
Bnnic M4- 
Gopyri^Ml? 

COPHUGHT DEPOSm 




THE VICTORIOUS GENERALS 
General Foch, Commander-in-Chief of all Allied forces. General Pershing, Com- 
mander-m-Chief of the American armies. Field Marshal Haig, head of the British 
armies. General d'Esperey (French) to whom Bulgaria surrendered. General Diaz, 
Commander-m-Chief of the Italian armies. General Marshall (British), head of the 
Mesopotamian expeditioDo General AUenby (British), who redeemed Palestine from 
the Turks, 



HISTORY OF THE 

WORLD WAR 

- — " 

An Authentic Narrative of 
The World's Greatest War 



By FRANCIS A. MARCH, Mi.D. 

In Collaboration with 
RICHARD J. BEAMISH 

Special War Correspondent 
and Military Analyst 



With an Introduction 

By GENERAL PEYTON C. MARCH 

Chief of Staff of the United States Army 



Illustrated with Reproductions from 
the OfBcial Photographs of the United 
States, British and French Governments 



THE JOHN C. WINSTON COMPANY 

PHILADELPHIA CHICAGO TORONTO 



\ 



^t" 



COPTEIGHT, 1918 

Francis A. March 

This history Is an original work and is fully 
protected by the copyright laws, including the 
right of translation. All persons are warned 
against reproducing the text in whole or in 
part without the permission of the publishers. 



M ^6 1319 



fP^.n, . 



©CLASH 248 



WAR DEPARTMENT, 
OFFICE OF THE CHIEF OF STAFF, 

WASHINGTON. 



November 14, 1918. 

With the signing of the Armistice on November 11, 1918, the 
World War has been practically brought to an end. The events of 
the past four years have been of such magnitude that the various 
steps, the numberless battles, and the growth of Allied power which 
led up to the final victory are not clearly defined even in the minds 
of many military men. A history of this great period which will 
state in an orderly fashion this series of events will be of the greatest 
value to the future students of the war, and to everyone of the 
present day who desires to refer in exact terms to matters which led 
up to the final conclusion. 

The war will be discussed and re-discussed from every angle and 
the sooner such a compilation of facts is available, the more valuable 
it will be. I understand that this History of the World War intends 
to put at the disposal of all who are interested, such a compendium of 
facts of the past period of over four years; and that the system 
employed in safeguarding the accuracy of statements contained in it 
will produce a document of great historical value without entering 
upon any speculative conclusions as to cause and effect of the various 
phases of the war or attempting to project into an historical document 
individual opinions. With these ends in view, this History will be of 
the greatest value. 




General, 

Chief of Staff, 

United States Army. 



CONTENTS. 

Chapter I. A War for International Freedom paqb 

A Conflict that was Inevitable— The Flower of Manhood on the Fields of 
France— Germany's Defiance to the World— Heroic Belgium— Four Auto- 
cratic Nations against Twenty-four Committed to the Principles of Liberty- 
America's Titanic Effort— Four MiUion Men Under Arms, Two MiUion 
Overseas— France the Martyr Nation— The British Empire's Tremendous 
Share in the Victory— A River of Blood Watering the Desert of Autocracy 19 

Chapter II. The World Suddenly Turned Upside Down 

The War Storm Breaks— Trade and Commerce Paralyzed— Homeward Rush 
oi Travelers— Harrowing Scenes as Ships Sail for America— Stock Markets 
Closed— The Tide of Desolation Following in the Wake of War 33 

Chapter III. Why the World Went to War 

The Balkan Ferment— Russia, the Dying Giant Among Autocracies— Turkey 
the "Sick Man" of Europe— Scars Left by the Balkan War— Germany's 
Determination to Seize a Place in the Sun ^ 

Chapter IV. The Plotter Behind the Scenes 

The Assassination at Sarajevo— The Slavic Ferment— Austria's Domineering 
Note— The Plotters of Potsdam— The Mailed Fist of Militarism Beneath the 
Velvet Glove of Diplomacy— MobiUzation and Declarations of War ... 54 

Chapter V. The Great War Begins 

Germany Invades Belgium and Luxemburg— French Invade Alsace— England's 
"Contemptible Little Army" Lands in France and Belgium— The Murderous 
Gray-Green Tide— Heroic Retreat of the British from Mons— Belgium Over- 
run—Northern France Invaded— Marshal Joffre Makes Ready to Strike . . 75 

Chapter VI. The Trail of the Beast in Belgium 

Barbarities that Shocked Humanity— Planned as Part of the Teutonic PoKcy 
of SchreckUchkeit—Row the German and the Hun Became Synonymous 
Terms— The Unmatchable Crim.es of a War-Mad Army— A Record of Infamy 
. Written in Blood and Tears— Official Reports 88 

Chapter VII. The First Battle of the Marne 

Joffre's Masterly Plan— The Enemy Trapped Between Verdun and Paris— 
GalHeni's "Army in Taxicabs"— Foch, the "Savior of Civihzation," Appears 
—His Mighty Thrust Routs the Army of Hansen- Joffre Salutes Foch as 
"First Strategist in Europe"— Battle that Won the Baton of a Marshal 110 

9 



10 CONTENTS 

Chaptee VIII. Japan in the War p^gb 

Tsing Tau Seized by the Mikado — German "Gibraltar" of the Far East 
Surrendered After Short Siege — Japan's Aid to the Allies in Money, Ships, 
Men and Nurses — German Propaganda in the Far East Fails 120 

Chapter IX. Campaign in the East 

Invasion of East Prussia — Von Hindenburg and Masurian Lakes — Battle of 
Tannenberg — Augustovo — Russians Capture Lemberg — The Offer to Poland 126 

Chapter X. Struggle for Supremacy on the Sea 

The British Blockade — German Raiders and Their Fate — Story of the 
Emden's Remarkable Voyage — Appearance of the Submarine — British Naval 
' Victory off Helgoland— U-9 Sinks Three British Cruisers 143 

Chapter XI. The Sublime Porte 

Turkish Intrigues — The Holy War — Mesopotamia and Transcaucasia — The 
Suez Canal — Turkey the Catspaw of Germany 164 

Chapter XII. Rescue or the Starving 

Famine in Belgium — Belgium Rehef Commission Organized in London — 
Herbert C. Hoover — ^American Aid — The Great Cardinal's Famous Challenge 181 

Chapter XIII. Britannia Rules the Waves 

German and British Squadrons Grapple off the Chilean Coast — Germany 
Wins the First Roimd — England Comes Back with Terrific Force — Graphic 
Picture of the Destruction of the German Squadron off Falkland Islands — 
EngHsh Coast Towns Bombarded for the First Time in Many Years . . . 201 

Chapter XIV. New Methods and Horrors of Warfare 

Tanks — Poison Gas— Flame Projectors — ^Airplane Bombs — Trench Mortars — 
Machine Guns — Modern Uses of Airplanes for Liaison and Attacks on Infantry 
— Radio — Rifle and Hand Grenades — A War of Intensive Artillery Prepara- 
tion — A Debacle of Insanities, Terrible Wounds and Horrible Deaths . . . 217 

Chapter XV. German Plots and Propaganda in America 

Traihng the German Plotters — Destruction of Ships — Pressure on Congress — 
Attacks in Canada — Zimmerman's Foohsh Effort to Embroil America with 
Mexico and Japan — Lies of the Propagandists After America Entered the 
War — Dumba, Von Bernstorff, Von Papen and Boy-Ed, a quartet of Unscru- 
pulous Destructionists 231 

Chapter XVI. Sinking of the Lusitania 

The Submarine Murderers at Work — Germany's Blackhand Warning — No 
Chance for Life — The Ship Unarmed and Without Mimitions — The Presi- 
dent's Note — Germany's Lying Denials — Coroner's Inquest Charges Kaiser 
with Wilful Murder — "Remember the Lusitania" One of America's Big 
Reasons for Declaring Vv'ar 247 



CONTENTS 11 

Chapter XVII. Neuve Chapelle and War in Blood- p^^b 
Soaked Trenches 

War Amid Barbed-Wire Entanglements and the Desolation of No Man's 
Land — Subterranean Tactics Continuing Over Four Years — Attacks that 
Cost Thousands of Lives for Every Foot of Gain 265 

Chapter XVIII. Steadfast South Africa 

Botha and Smuts, Rocks of Loyalty Amid a Sea of Treachery — Civil War 
that Ended with the Drowning of General Beyers and the Arrest of General 
De Wet — Conquest of German Colonies — Trail of the Hun in the Jungle . 280 

Chapter XIX. Italy Declares War on Austria 

Her Great Decision — D'Annunzio, Poet and Patriot — ItaUa Irredenta — 
German Indignation — The Campaigns on the Isonzo and in the Tyrol . . 287 

Chapter XX. Glorious Gallipoli 

a Titanic Enterprise — Its Objects — Disasters and Deeds of Deathless Glory — 
The Heroic Anzacs — Bloody Dashes up Impregnable Slopes — Silently they 
Stole Away — ^A Successful Failure 302 

Chapter XXI. The Greatest Naval Battle in History 

The Battle of Jutland — Every Factor on Sea and in Sky Favorable to the 
Germans — Low Visibility a Great Factor — A Modern Sea Battle — Light 
Cruisers Screening Battleship Squadron — Germans Run Away when British 
Fleet Marshals Its Full Strength — Death of Lord Kitchener 311 

Chapter XXII. The Russian Campaign 

The Advance on Cracow — Von Hindenburg Strikes at Warsaw — German 
Barbarism — The War in Galicia — The Fall of Przemysl — Russia's Ammuni- 
tion Fails — The Russian Retreat — The Fall of Warsaw — Czernowitz . . 327 

Chapter XXIII. How the Balkans Decided 

Ferdinand of Bulgaria Insists Upon Joining Germany — Dramatic Scene in 
the King's Palace — The Die is Cast — Bulgaria Succumbs to Seductions of 
Potsdam Gang — Greece Mobilizes — French and British Troops at Saloniki — 
Serbia Over-run — Roimaania's Disastrous Venture in the Arena of Mars . . 347 

Chapter XXIV. The Campaign in Mesopotamia 

British Army Threatening Bagdad Besieged in Kut-el-Amara — After Heroic 
Defense General Townshend Surrenders After 143 Days of Siege — New British 
Expedition Recaptures Kut — Troops Push on up the Tigris — Fall of Bagdad, 
the Magnificent 370 



12 CONTENTS 

Ghapter XXV. Canada's Part in the Great War j.^qh 

By Col. George G. Nasmith, C. M. G. 
Enthusiastic Response to the Call to Action — Valcartier Camp a Splendid 
Example of the Driving Power of Sir Sam Hughes — Thirty-three Liners Cross 
the Atlantic with First Contingent of Men and Equipment — Largest Convoy 
Ever Gathered Together — At the Front with the Priucess Pat's — Red Cross — 
Financial Aid — Half a MiUion Soldiers Overseas — Mons, the Last Stronghold 
of the Enemy, Won by the Men from Canada — A Record of Glory .... 381 

Chapter XXVI. Immortal Verdun 

Grave of the Mihtary Reputations of Von Falkenhayn and the Crown Prince 
— Hindenburg's Warning — ^Why the Germans Made the Disastrous Attempt 
to Captxu-e the Great Fortress — Heroic France Reveals Itself to the World — 
"They Shall Not Pass"— Nivelle's Glorious Stand on Dead Man HiU— Lord 
NorthcHffe's Description — A Defense Unsurpassed in the History of France 398 

Chapter XXVII. Murders and Martyrs 

The Case of Edith Cavell — Nurse Who Befriended the Helpless, Dies at the 
Hands of the Germans — Captain Fryatt's Martyrdom — How Germany Sowed 
the Seeds of Disaster 409 

Chapter XXVIII. The Second Battle of Ypres 

The Canadians in Action — Undismayed by the New Weapon of the Enemy — 
Holding the Line Against Terrific Odds — Men from the Dominion Fight Like 
Veterans 412 

Chapter XXIX. Zeppelin Raids on France and England 

First Zeppelin Attack Kills Twenty-eight and Injures Forty-four — Part of 
Germany's PoUcy of Frightfuhiess — Raids by German Airplanes on Unforti- 
fied Towns — KiUing of Non-Combatants — The British Lion Awakes — Anti- 
Aircraft Precautions and Protections — Pohcy of Terrorism Fails .... 417 

Chapter XXX. Red Revolution in Russia 

Rasputin, the Mystic — The Cry for Bread — Rise of the Council of Workmen's 
and Soldiers' Delegates — Rioting in Petrograd — The Threatening Cloud of 
Disaster — Moderate Policy of the Duma Fails — The Fatal Easter Week of 
1917 — Abdication of the Czar — Last Tragic Moments of the Autocrat of All 
the Russias — Grand Duke Issues Declaration Ending Power of Romanovs in 
Russia — Release of Siberian Revolutionists — Free Russia 425 

Chapter XXXI. The Descent to Bolshevism 

Russia Intoxicated with Freedom — Ehhu Root and His Mission — Last 
Brilliant Offensive in GaKcia — The Great Mutiny in the Army — The Battahon 
of Death — Kerensky's Skyrocket Career — Kornilov's Revolt — Loss of Riga — 
Lenine, the Dictator — The Impossible "Peace" of Brest-Litovsk .... 438 



CONTENTS 13 

Chapter XXXII. Germany's Object Lesson to the p^ej. 
United States 

Two Voyages of the Deutschland — U-53 German Submarine Reaches Newport 
and Sinks Five British and Neutral Steamers off Nantucket — Rescue of 
Survivors by United States Warships — Anti-German FeeHng in America 
Reaching a Climax 459 

Chapter XXXIII. America Transformed by War 

The United States Enters the Conflict — The Efficiency of Democracy — Six 
Months in an American Training Camp Equal to Six Years of German Com- 
pulsory Service — American Soldiers and Their Resourcefulness on the Battle- 
field—Methods of Training and Their Results— The S. A. T. C 464 

Chapter XXXIV. How Food Won the War 

The American Farmer a Potent Factor in Civilization's Victory — Scientific 
Studies of Food Production, Distribution and Consumption — Hoover Lays 
Down the Law Regulating V/holesalers and Grocers — Getting the Food Across 
— Feeding Armies in the Field 478 

Chapter XXXV. The United States Navy in the War 

Increase from 58,000 Men to Approximately 500,000— Destroyer Fleet Arrives 
in British Waters— "We Are Ready Now"— The Hunt of the U-Boats— 
Gminery that is Uiu:ivalled — Depth Charges and Other New Inventions — 
The U-Boat Menace Removed — Surrender of German Under-Sea Navy . . 483 

Chapter XXXVI. China Joins the Fighting Democracies 

How the Germans Behaved in China Seventeen Years Before— The Whirligig 
of Time Brings Its Own Revenge — The Far Eastern RepubUc Joins Hands 
with the AUies — German Propaganda at Work — Futile Attempt to Restore the 
Monarchy — Fear of Japan — Vfar — Thousands of Chinese Toil Behind the 
Battle Lmes in France — Siam with Its Eight MiUions Defies the Germans — 
End of Teuton Influence in the Orient 498 



Chapter XXXVII. The Defeat and Recovery of Italy 

Subtle Socialist Gospel Preached by Enemy Plays Havoc with Guileless 
Italians — Sudden Onslaught of Germans Drives Cadorna's Men from Heights 
—The Spectacular Retreat that Dismayed the World— Glorious Stand of the 
Italians on the Piave — Rise of Diaz 502 



Chapter XXXVIII. Redemption of the Holy Land 

a Long Campaign Progressing Through Hardships to Glory — General AHenby 
Enters Jerusalem on Foot — Turkish Army Crushed in Palestine — Battle of 
Armageddon 506 



14 CONTENTS 

Chaptee XXXIX. America's Transportation Problems pj^qb 

Government Ownership of Railroads, Telegraphs, Telephones — Gettiag the 
Men from Training Camps to the Battle Fronts — From Texas to Toul — A 
Gigantic System Working Without a Hitch _. 513 

Chapter XL. Ships and the Men Who Made Them 

The Emergency Fleet Corporation — Charles M. Schwab as Master Shipbuilder 
— Hog Island the Wonder Shipyard of the World — An Unbeatable Record — 
Concrete Ships — ^Wooden Ships — Standardizuig the Steel Ship — Attitude of 
Labor in the War — Samuel Gompers an Unofficial Member of the Cabinet — 
Great Task of the United States Employment Service 520 

Chapter XLI. Germany's Dying Desperate Effort 

The High Tide of German Success — ^An Army of Six Milhon Men Flung Reck- 
lessly on the Allies — Most Terrific Battles in all History — The Red Ruin of 
War from Arras to St. Quentm — ^Amiens Within Arms' Reach of the Invaders 
— ^Paris Bombarded by Long-Range Gims from Distance of Seventy-six Miles — 
A GeneraUssimo at Last — Marshal Foch in Supreme Command . . . .531 

Chapter XLII. Chateau-Thierry, Field of Glory 

German Wave Stops with the Americans — Prussian Guard Flung Back — The 
Beginning of Autocracy's End — ^America's Record of Valor and Victory — 
Cantigny — Belleau Wood — Thierry — St. Mihiel — Shock Troops of the Enemy 
Annihilated — Soldier's Remarkable Letter 545 

Chapter XLIII. England and France Strike in the North ^ 

Second Terrific Blow of General Foch — Lens, the Storehouse of Minerals, 
Captured — Bapaume Retaken — British Snap the Famous Hindenburg Line — 
The Great Thrust Through Cambrai — Tanks to the Front — Cavahy in Action 563 

Chapter XLIV. Belgium's Gallant Effort 

The Little Army Under King Albert Thrusts Savagely at the Germans — 
Ostend and Zeebrugge Freed from the Submarine Pirates — Pathetic Scenes as 
ians are Restored to Their Homes 573 



Chapter XLV. Italy's Terrific Drive 

Enemy Offensive Opens on Front of Ninety-Seven Miles — Repulse of the 
Austrians — Italy Turns the Tables — Terrific Counter-Thrusts from the Piave 
to Trente — Forcing the Alpine Passages — Battles High in the Air — English, 
French and Americans Back up the Italians in HvmabUng the Might of Austria 
— D'Annunzio's Romantic Bombardment of Vienna — Diaz Leads his Men to 
Victory 582 

Chapter XLVI. Bulgaria Deserts Germany 

Greece in the Throes of Revolution— Fall of Constantine— Serbians Begin 
Advance on Bulgars — Thousands of Prisoners Taken — Surrender of Bulgaria — 



CONTENTS 15 



PAGE 



Panic in Berlin — Passage Through the Country Granted for Armies of the 
Allies — Ferdinand Abdicates — Germany's Imagined Mittel-Europa Dream 
Forever Destroyed . 591 

Chapter XLVII. The Central Empires Whine for Peace 

Austria-Hungary Makes the First Plea — President Wilson's Abrupt Answer — 
Prince Max, Camouflaged as an Apostle of Peace, made Chancellor and Opens 
Germany's Pathetic Plea for a Peace by Negotiation — The President Replies 
on Behalf of all the Allied Powers — Foch Pushes on Regardless of Peace Notes. 603 

Chapter XLVIII. Battles in the Air 

Conquering the Fear of Death — From Individual Fights to Battles Between 
Squadrons — Heroes of the Warring Nations — America's Wonderful Record — 
From Nowhere to First Place in Eighteen Months — The Liberty Motor . .611 

Chapter XLIX. Health and Happiness of the American 
Forces 

Record of the Red Cross on aU Fronts — A Gigantic Work Well Executed^ 
Y. M. C. A. — Y. W. C. A. — Knights of Columbus — ^Jewish Welfare Associa- 
tion — Salvation Army — American Library Association — Other Organizations — 
Surgery and Sanitation 622 

Chapter L. The Pirates of the Under-Seas 

Germany's Ruthless Submarine PoUcy — A Boomerang Destroying the Hand 
that Cast It — Terrorism that Failed — One Hundred and Fifty U-Boats Sunk 
or Captured — Shameless Surrender of the German Submarines and of the 
Fleet They Protected 631 

Chapter LI. Approaching the Final Stage 

Cutting the Railroads to Cambrai— Americans Co-operate with British in 
Furious Attack — Douai and St. Quentin Taken — The Battle Line Straightened 
for the Last Mighty Assault — All Hope Abandoned by the Kaiser. . . . 640 

Chapter LII. Last Days of the War 

American Troops Join with the Allies in Colossal Drive on 71-mile Front — 
Historic Sedan Taken by the Yanks — Stenay, the Last Battle of the War — 
How the Opposing Forces Greeted the News of the Armistice 643 

Chapter LIIL The Drastic Terms of Surrender 

Handcuffs for Four Nations — Bulgaria First to Fly the White Flag — AUenby's 
Great Victory Forces Turkey Out — ^Austria Signs Quickly — Germany's 
Capitulation Complete and HumiUating 648 

Chapter LIV. Peace at Last 

An Unfounded Rumor Starts Enormous Jubilation — Armistice Signed Four 
Days Later — ^Kaiser Abdicates and Flees to Holland — Cowardly Ruler Seeks 



16 CONTENTS 

PAQE 

Protection of Small Neutral Nation — Looking Into the Future — Cost of War 
to the Nations — Liberty Loans — Reconstruction Problems — McAdoo Resigns 
— American Ideals in the Old World 660 

Chapter LV. America's Position in Peace and War 

President Wilson's Stirring Speech in Congress Which Brought the United 
States into the War — His Great Speech Before Congress Ending the War — 
The Fourteen Points Outhning America's Demands Before Peace Could be 
Concluded — ^Later Peace Principles Enunciated by the President. . . . 669 

Chapter LVI. The War by Years 

Condensed Word-Picture of the Happenings of the Most Momentous Fifty- 
two Months in AU History — Leading Up to the Eleventh Hour of the 
Eleventh Day of the Eleventh Month of 1918 684 

Chapter LVII. Behind America's Battle Line 

General March's Story of the Work of the Mihtary IntelHgence Division — 
Of the War Plans Division — Of the Purchase and Traffic Divisions — How Men, 
Munitions and SuppHes Reached the Western Front 689 

Chapter LVIII. General Pershing's Own Story 

The Commander-in-Chief of the American Expeditionary Forces Tells the 
Story of the Magnificent Combat Operations of his Troops that Defeated 
Prussia's Legions — Official Account Discloses Full Details of the Fighting. . 701 

Chapter LIX. President Wilson's Review of the War 

A Year in the Life of the United States Crowded with Great Events — Tribute 
to the Soldiers and Sailors, the Workers at Home Who SuppHed the Sinews 
of the Great Undertaking, the Women of the Land Who Contributed to the 
Great Result — The Future Safe in the Hands of American Businessmen. . 720 

Summarized Chronology of the War 729 



FOREWORD 



r B ^HIS is a popular narrative history of the world's greatest 
war. Written frankly from the viewpoint of the United 
States and the AlUes, it visuahzes the bloodiest and most 
destructive conflict of all the ages from its remote causes 
to its glorious conclusion and beneficent results. The world- 
shaking rise of new democracies is set forth, and the enormous 
national and individual sacrifices producing that resurrection of 
human equahty are detailed. 

Two ideals have been before us in the preparation of this 
necessary work. These are simplicity and thoroughness. It is 
of no avail to describe the greatest of human events if the descrip- 
tion is so confused that the reader loses interest. Thoroughness 
is an historical essential beyond price. So it is that official 
documents prepared in many instances upon the field of battle, 
and others taken from the files of the governments at war, are 
the basis of this work. Maps and photographs of unusual clear- 
ness and high authenticity illuminate the text. All that has 
gone into war making, into the regeneration of the world, are 
herein set forth with historical particularity. The stark horrors 
of Belgium, the blighting terrors of chemical warfare, the 
governmental restrictions placed upon hundreds of millions of 
civilians, the war sacrifices falling upon all the civiHzed peoples 
of earth, are in these pages. 

It is a book that mankind can well read and treasure. 




CHAPTER I 

A War for International Freedom 

Y FELLOW COUNTRYMEN: The armistice was 
signed this morning. Everything for which America 
fought has been accomplished. The war thus comes 

to an end." tt -4. ^ 

Speaking to the Congress and the people of the United 
States, President Wilson made this declaration on November 
11 1918. A few hours before he made this statement, Germany, 
the empire of blood and iron, had agreed to an armistice, 
terms of which were the hardest and most humiliatmg ever 
imposed upon a nation of the first class. It was the end of 
a war for which Germany had prepared for generations, a war 
bred of a philosophy that Might can take its toll of earth s 
possessions, of human lives and liberties, when and where it 
will. That philosophy involved the cession to imperial Germany 
of the best years of young German manhood, the training^ of 
German youths to be killers of men. It involved the creation 
of a military caste, arrogant beyond all precedent, a caste that 
set its strength and pride against the righteousness of democracy, 
against the possession of wealth and bodily comforts, a caste that 
visualized itself as part of a power-mad Kaiser's assumption that 
he and God were to shape the destinies of earth. 

Wheii Marshal Foch, the foremost strategist in the world, 
representing the governments of the Allies and the United States, 
delivered to the emissaries of Germany terms upon which they 
might surrender, he brought to an end the bloodiest, the most 
destructive and the most beneficent war the world has known. 
It is worthy of note in this connection that the three great wars 
in which the United States of America engaged have been wars for 
freedom. The Revolutionary War was for the liberty of the 
colonies; the Civil War was waged for the freedom of manhood 
and for the principle of the indissolubility of the Union ; the World 
War, beginning 1914, was fought for the right of small nations to 

19 



20 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR 

self-government and for the right of every country to the free 
use of the high seas. 

More than four million American men were under arms when 
the conflict ended. Of these, more than two million were upon 
the fields of France and Italy. These were thoroughly trained 
in the military art. They had proved their right to be considered 
among the most formidable soldiers the world has known. 
Against the brown rock of that host in khaki, the flower of 
German savagery and courage had broken at Chateau-Thierry. 
There the high tide of Prussian militarism, after what had seemed 
to be an irresistible dash for the destruction of France, spent 
itself in the bloody froth and spume of bitter defeat. There the 
Prussian Guard encountered the Marines, the Iron Division and 
the other heroic organizations of America's new army. There 
German soldiers who had been hardened and trained under 
German conscription before the war, and who had learned new 
arts in their bloody trade, through their service in the World War, 
met their masters in young Americans taken from the shop, 
the field, and the forge, youths who had been sent into battle 
with a scant six months' intensive training in the art of war. 
Not only did these American soldiers hold the German onslaught 
where it was but, in a sudden, fierce, resistless counter-thrust 
they drove back in defeat and confusion the Prussian Guard, the 
Pommeranian Reserves, and smashed the morale of that German 
division beyond hope of resurrection. 

The news of that exploit sped from the Alps to the North 
Sea Coast, through all the camps of the Allies, with incredible 
rapidity. "The Americans have held the Germans. They can 
fight," ran the message. New life came into the war- weary 
ranks of heroic poilus and into the steel-hard armies of Great 
Britain. ''The Americans are as good as the best. There are 
millions of them, and millions more are coming," was heard on 
every side. The transfusion of American blood came as magic 
tonic, and from that glorious day there was never a doubt as to 
the speedy defeat of Germany. From that day the German 
retreat dated. The armistice signed on November 11, 1918, was 
merely the period finishing the death sentence of German mili- 
tarism, the first word of which was uttered at Chateau-Thierry. 

Germany's defiance to the world, her determination to 



A WAR FOR INTERNATIONAL FREEDOM 21 



force her will and her "kultur" upon the democracies of earth, 
produced the conflict. She called to her aid three sister autoc- 
racies: Turkey, a land ruled by the whims of a long line of 
moody misanthropic monarchs; Bulgaria, the traitor nation cast 
by its Teutonic king into a war in which its people had no choice 
and little sympathy; Austria-Hungary, a congeries of races in 
which a Teutonic minority ruled with an iron scepter. 

Against this phalanx of autocracy, twenty-four nations 
arrayed themselves. Populations of these twenty-eight warring 
nations far exceeded the total population of all the remainder 
of humanity. The conflagration of war literally belted the earth. 
It consumed the most civilized of capitals. It raged in the swamps 
and forests of Africa. To its call came alien peoples speaking 
words that none but themselves could translate, wearing gar- 
ments of exotic cut and hue amid the smart garbs and sober hues 
of modem civilization. A twentieth century Babel came to the 
fields of France for freedom's sake, and there was born an 
internationalism making for the future understanding and peace 
of the world. The list of the twenty-eight nations entering the 
World War and their populations follow: 

Countries. Population. 

United States 110,000,000 

Austria-Hungary 50,000,000 

Belgium 8,000,000 

Bulgaria 5,000,000 

Brazil 23,000,000 

China 420,000,000 

Costa Rica 425,000 

Cuba 2,500,000 

France* 90,000,000 

Gautemala 2,000,000 

Germany 67,000,000 

Great Britain* 440,000,000 

Greece 5,000,000 

Haiti 2,000,000 

Honduras 600,000 

* Including colonies. 



Countriea. Population, 

Italy 37,000,000 

Japan 54,000,000 

Liberia 2,000,000 

Montenegro 600,000 

Nicaragua 700,000 

Panama 400,000 

Portugal* 15,000,000 

Roumania 7,500,000 

Russia 180,000,000 

San Marino 10,000 

Serbia 4,500,000 

Siam 6,000,000 

Turkey 42,000,000 



Total 1,575,135,000 



The following nations, with their populations, took no part 
in the World War: 



Countries. Population. 

Abyssinia 8,000,000 

Afghanistan 6,000,000 

Andorra 6,000 



Countriea. Population. 

Argentina 8,000,000 

Bhutan 250,000 

ChUe 5,000,000 



22 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR 



Countriea. " Population. 

Paraguay 800,000 

Persia 9,000,000 

Salvador 1,250,000 

Spain 20,000,000 

Switzerland 3,750,000 

Venezuela 2,800,000 



Total 135,876,000 



Countries. Population. 

Colombia 5,000,000 

Denmark 3,000,000 

Ecuador 1,500,000 

Mexico 15,000,000 

Monaco 20,000 

Nepal 4,000,000 

HoUand* 40,000,000 

Norway 2,500,000 

* Including ooloniea. 

Never before in the history of the world were so many races 
and peoples mingled in a military effort as those that came together 
under the command of Marshal Foch. If we divide the human 
races into white, yellow, red and black, all four were largely 
represented. Among the white races there were Frenchmen, 
Italians, Portuguese, EngUsh, Scottish, Welsh, Irish, Canadians, 
Australians, South Africans (of both British and Dutch descent) 
New Zealanders; in the American army, probably every other 
European nation was represented, with additional contingents from 
those already named, so that every branch of the white race figured 
in the ethnological total. 

There were representatives of many Asiatic races, including 
not only the volunteers from the native states of India, but elements 
from the French colony in Cochin China, with Annam, Cambodia, 
Tonkin, Laos, and Kwang Chau Wan. England and France both 
contributed many African tribes, including Arabs from Algeria 
and Tunis, Senegalese, Saharans, and many of the South African 
races. The red races of North America were represented in the 
armies of both Canada and the United States, while the Maoris, 
Samoans, and other Polynesian races were likewise represented. 
And as, in the American Army, there were men of German, Austrian, 
and Hungarian descent, and, in all probabiUty, contingents also of 
Bulgarian and Turkish blood, it may be said that Foch commanded 
an army representing the whole human race, united in defense of 
the ideals of the Allies. 

It will be seen that more than ten times the number of neutral 
persons were engulfed in the maelstrom of war. Millions of these 
suffered from it during the entire period of the conflict, four years 
three months and fifteen days, a total of 1,567 days. For almost 
four years Germany rolled up a record of victories on land and of 
piracies on and under the seas. 










•STUTTCAKf 



N£(JiriiAL 



MUMICH 












^ Serm 



TERRITORY OCCUPIED BY THE ALLIES UNDER THE ARMISTICE 
OF NOVEMBER 11, 1918 

Dotted area, invaded territory of Belgium, France, Luxembourg and Alsace- 
Lorraine to be evacuated in fourteen days; area in small squares, part of Germany 
west of the Rhine to be evacuated in twenty-five days and occupied by Allied and 
U. S. troops; lightly shaded area to east of Rhine, neutral zone; black semi- circles, 
bridge-heads of thirty kilometers radius in the neutral zone to be occupied by Allied 
armies. 

(23) 



24 ^ HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR 

Little by little, day after day, piracies dwindled as the murder- 
ous submarine was mastered and its menace strangled. On the 
land, the AlHes, under the matchless leadership of Marshal Ferdi- 
nand Foch and the generous co-operation of Americans, British, 
French and Italians, under the great Generals Pershing, Haig, 
Petain and Diaz, wrested the initiative from von Hindenburg and 
Ludendorf, late in July, 1918. Then, in one hundred and fifteen 
days of wonderful strategy and the fiercest fighting the world 
has ever witnessed, Foch and the Alhes closed upon the Germanic 
armies the jaws of a steel trap. A series of brilliant maneuvers 
dating from the battle of Chateau-Thierry in which the Americans 
checked the Teutonic rush, resulted in the defeat and rout on all 
the fronts of the Teutonic commands. 

In that titanic effort, America's share was that of the final 
deciding factor. A nation unjustly titled the "Dollar Nation," 
believed by Germany and by other countries to be soft, selfish 
and wasteful, became over night hard as tempered steel, self- 
sacrificing with an altruism that inspired the world and thrifty 
beyond all precedent in order that not only its own armies but the 
armies of the Allies might be fed and munitioned. 

Leading American thought and American action. President 
Wilson stood out as the prophet of the democracies of the world. 
Not only did he inspire America and the Allies to a military and 
naval effort beyond precedent, but he inspired the civiHan popula- 
tions of the world to extraordinary effort, efforts that eventually 
won the war. For the decision was gained quite as certainly on the 
wheat fields of Western America, in the shops and the mines and 
the homes of America as it was upon the battle-field. 

This effort came in response to the following appeal by the 
President : 

These, then, are the things we must do, and do well, besides fighting 
— the things without which mere fighting would be fruitless: 

We must supply abundant food for ourselves and for our armies 
and our seamen not only, but also for a large part of the nations with whom 
we have now made common cause, in whose support and by whose sides 
we shall be fighting; 

We must supply ships by the hundreds out of our shipyards to carry 
to the other side of the sea, submarines or no submarines, what will every 
day be needed there; and^ — 

Abundant materials out of our fields and our mines and our factories 



A WAR FOR INTERNATIONAL FREEDOM 25 

with which not only to clothe and equip our own forces on land and sea 
but also to clothe and support our people for whom the gallant fellows under 
arms can no longer work, to help clothe and equip the armies with which 
we are co-operating in Europe, and to keep the looms and manufactories 
there in raw material; 

Coal to keep the fires going in ships at sea and in the furnaces of 
hundreds of factories across the sea; 

Steel out of which to make arms and ammunition both here and 
there; 

Rails for worn-out railways back of the fighting fronts; 

Locomotives and rolling stock to take the place of those every day 
going to pieces; 

Everything with which the people of England and France and Italy 
and Russia have usually supplied themselves, but cannot now afford the 
men, the materials, or the machinery to make. 

I particularly appeal to the farmers of the South to plant abundant 
foodstuffs as well as cotton. They can show their patriotism in no better 
or more convincing way than by resisting the great temptation of the 
present price of cotton and helping, helping upon a large scale, to feed the 
nation and the peoples everywhere who are fighting for their liberties and 
for our own. The variety of their crops will be the visible measure of 
their comprehension of their national duty. 

The response was amazing in its enthusiastic and general 
compliance. No autocracy issuing a ukase could have been obeyed 
so explicitly. Not only did the various classes of workers and 
individuals observe the President's suggestions to the letter, but 
they yielded up individual right after right in order that the war 
work of the government might be expedited. Extraordinary 
powers and functions were granted by the people through Congress, 
and it was not until peace was declared that these rights and powers 
returned to the people. 

These governmental activities ceased functioning after the war: 

Food administration; 

Fuel administration; 

Espionage act; 

War trade board; 

Alien property custodian (with extension of time for cer- 
tain duties); 

Agricultural stimulation; 

Housing construction (except for shipbuilders) ; 

Control of telegraphs and telephones; 

Export control. 



26 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR 

These functions were extended: 

Control over railroads : to cease within twenty-one months 

after the proclamation of peace. 
The War Finance Corporation : to cease to function six 
months after the war, with further time for Hquidation. 
The Capital Issues Committee : to terminate in six months 

after the peace proclamation. 
The Aircraft Board : to end in six months after peace was 
proclaimed; and the government operation of ships, 
within five years after the war was officially ended. 
President Wilson, generally acclaimed as the leader of the 
world's democracies, phrased for civilization the arguments against 
autocracy in the great peace conf erenceaf ter the war. ThePresident 
headed the American delegation to that conclave of world re-con- 
struction. With him as delegates to the conference were Robert 
Lansing, Secretary of State; Henry White, former Ambassador to 
France and Italy; Edward M. House and General Tasker H. 
Bhss. 

Representing American Labor at the International Labor 
conference held in Paris simultaneously with the Peace Confer- 
ence were Samuel Gompers, president of the American Federation 
of Labor; William Green, secretary-treasurer of the United Mine 
Y/orkers of America; John R. Alpine, president of the Plumbers' 
Union; James Duncan, president of the International Association 
of Granite Cutters; Frank Duffy, president of the United Broth- 
erhood of Carpenters and Joiners, and Frank Morrison, secretary 
of the American Federation of Labor. 

Estimating the share of each AUied nation in the great victory, 
mankind will conclude that the heaviest cost in proportion to pre- 
war population and treasure was paid by the nations that first 
felt the shock of war, Belgium, Serbia, Poland and France. All 
four were the battle-grounds of huge armies, oscillating in a bloody 
frenzy over once fertile fields and once prosperous towns. 

Belgium, with a population of 8,000,000, had a casualty Hst 
of more than 350,000; France, with its casualties of 4,000,000 out 
of a population (including its colonies) of 90,000,000, is really the 
martyr nation of the world. Her gallant poilus showed the world 
how cheerfully men may die in defense of home and Hberty. Huge 
Russia, including hapless Poland, had a casualty list of 7,000,000 




KINGS AND CHIEF EXECUTIVES OF THE PRINCIPAL 
POWERS ASSOCIATED AGAINST THE GERMAN ALLUNCE 




THE "TIGER" OF FRANCE 

face of terrific assaults of the enemy. 




THE RIGHT HONORABLE DAVID LLOYD GEORGE 

British Premier, who headed the coalition cabinet which carried 
England through the war to victory. 




KING GEORGE V 

King of Great Britain and Ireland and Emperor of India who struggled 
earned to prevent the war but when Germany attacked Belgmm sent the 
mighty forces of the British Empire to stop the Mun. 



A WAR FOR INTERNATIONAL FREEDOM 31 

out of its entire population of 180,000,000. The United States 
out of a population of 110,000,000 had a casualty Hst of 236,117 for 
nineteen months of war; of these 53,169 were killed or died of 
disease; 179,625 were wounded; and 3,323 prisoners or missing. 

To the glory of Great Britain must be recorded the enormous 
effort made by its people, showing through operations of its army 
and navy. The British Empire, including the Colonies, had a 
casualty Hst of 3,049,992 men out of a total population of 440,- 
000,000. Of these 658,665 were killed; 2,032,122 were wounded, 
and 359,204 were reported missmg. It raised an army of 7,000,000, 
and fought seven separate foreign campaigns, in France, Italy, 
Dardanelles, Mesopotamia, Macedonia, East Africa and Egypt. 
It raised its navy personnel from 115,000 to 450,000 men. Co-oper- 
ating with its allies on the sea, it destroyed approximately one 
hundred and fifty German and Austrian submarines. It aided 
materially the Ainerican navy and transport service in sending 
overseas the great American army whose coming decided the war. 
The British navy and transport service during the war made the 
following record of transportation and convoy: 

Twenty milhon men, 2,000,000 horses, 130,000,000 tons of 
food, 25,000,000 tons of explosives and suppHes, 51,000,000 tons 
of oil and fuels, 500,000 vehicles. In 1917 alone 7,000,000 men, 
500,000 animals, 200,000 vehicles and 9,5000,00 tons of stores were 
conveyed to the several war fronts. 

The German losses were estimated at 1,588,000 killed or died 
of disease; 4,000,000 wounded; and 750,000 prisoners and missing. 

A tabulation of the estimates of casualties and the money cost 
of the war reveals the enormous price paid by humanity to con- 
vince a miHtary-mad Germanic caste that Right and not Might 
must hereafter rule the world. These figures do not include Serbian 
losses, which are unavailable. Following is the tabulation: 

The Entente Allies The Central Powers 

Russia 7,000,000 Germany 6,338,000 

France 4,000,000 Austria-Hungary 4,500,000 

British Empire (official) 3,049,992 Turkey 750,000 

Italy... 1,000,000 Bulgaria 200,000 

Belgium 350,000 

Roiunania 200,000 Total 11,788,000 

United States (official) 236,117 - 

Total 15,836,109 



32 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR 

Grand total of estimated casualties, 27,624,109, of which the 
dead alone number perhaps 7,000,000. 

ESTIMATED COST IN MONEY 

The Entente Alijes The Central Powers 

Russia $30,000,000,000 Germany $45,000,000,000 

Britain 52,000,000,000 Austria-Hungary 25,000,000,000 

France 32,000,000,000 Turkey 5,000,000,000 

United States 40,000,000,000 Bulgaria 2,000,000,000 

Italy 12,000,000,000 

Roumania 3,000,000,000 Total $77,000,000,000 

Serbia 3,000,000,000 



Total $172,000,000,000 

Grand total of estimated cost in money, $249,000,000,000. 

Was the cost too heavy? Was the price of international 
liberty paid in human lives and in sacrifices untold too great for 
the peace that followed? 

Even the most practical of money changers, the most senti- 
mental pacifist, viewing the cost in connection with the liberation 
of whole nations, with the spread of enlightened liberty through 
oppressed and benighted lands, with the destruction of autocracy, 
of the military caste, and of Teutonic kultur in its materialistic 
aspect, must agree that the blood was well shed, the treasure well 
spent. 

Millions of gallant, eager youths learned how to die fearlessly 
and gloriously. They died to teach vandal nations that never- 
more will humanity permit the exploitation of peoples for mili- 
taristic purposes. 

As Milton, the great philosopher poet, phrased the lesson 
taught to Germany on the fields of France: 

They err who count it glorious to subdue 
By conquest far and wide, to overrun 
Large countries, and in field great battles win, 
Great cities by assault; what do these worthies 
But rob and spoil, burn, slaughter, and enslave 
Peaceable nations, neighboring or remote 
Made captive, yet deserving freedom more 
Than those their conquerors, who leave behind 
Nothing but ruin wheresoe'er they rove 
And all the flourishing works of peace destroy. 




CHAPTER II 

The World Suddenly Tubned Upside Down 

EMORALIZATION, like the black plague of the middle 
ages, spread in every direction immediately following the 
first overt acts of war. Men who were millionaires at 
nightfall awoke the next morning to find themselves 
bankrupt through depreciation of their stock-holdings. Prosperous 
firms of importers were put out of business. International com- 
merce was dislocated to an extent unprecedented in history. 

The greatest of hardships immediately following the war, 
however, were visited upon those who unhappily were caught on 
their vacations or on their business trips within the area affected 
by the war. Not only men, but women and children, were subjected 
to privations of the severest character. Notes which had been 
negotiable, paper money of every description, and even silver 
currency suddenly became of little value. Americans living in 
hotels and pensions facing this sudden shrinkage in their money, 
were compelled to leave the roofs that had sheltered them. That 
which was true of Americans was true of all other nationalities, so 
that every embassy and the office of every consul became a miniature 
Babel of excited, distressed humanity. 

The sudden seizure of railroads for war purposes in Germany, 
France, Austria and Russia, cut off thousands of travelers in 
villages that were almost inaccessible. Europeans being com- 
paratively close to their homes, were not in straits as severe as the 
Americans whose only hope for aid lay in the speedy arrival of 
American gold. Prices of food soared beyond all precedent and 
many of these hapless strangers went under. Paris, the brightest 
and gayest city in Europe, suddenly became the most somber of 
dwelling places. No traffic was permitted on the highways at 
night. No lights were permitted and all the caf^s were closed at 
eight o'clock. The gay capital was placed under iron military rule. 

Seaports, and especially the pleasure resorts in France, Belgium 
and England, were placed under a military supervision. Visitors 

33 



34 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR 

were ordered to return to their homes and every resort was shrouded 
with darkness at night. The records of those early days are filled 
with stories of dramatic happenings. 

On the night of July 31st Jean Leon Jaures, the famous leader 
of French SociaUsts, was assassinated while dining in a small 
restaurant near the Paris Bourse. His assassin was Raoul Villein. 
Jaures had been endeavoring to accompUsh a union of French and 
German SociaUsts with the aim of preventing the war. The object 
of the assassination appeared to have been wholly poUtical. 

On the same day stock exchanges throughout the United 
States were closed, following the example of European stock 
exchanges. Ship insurance soared to prohibitive figures. Reservists 
of the French and German armies Hving outside of their native 
land were called to the colors and their homeward rush still further 
complicated transportation for civihans. All the countries of 
Europe clamored for gold. North and South America complied 
with the demand by sending cargoes of the precious metal overseas. 
The German ship Kron Prinzessin with a cargo of gold, attempted 
to make the voyage to Hamburg, but a wireless warning that 
Allied cruisers were waiting for it off the Grand Banks of Newfound- 
land, compelled the big ship to turn back to safety in America. 

Channel boats bearing American refugees from the Continent 
to London were described as floating hells. London was excited 
oveiT the war and holiday spirit, and overrun with five thousand 
citizens of the United States tearfully pleading with the American 
Ambassador for money for transportation home or assurances of 
personal safety. 

The condition of the terror-stricken tourists fleeing to the 
friendly shores of England from Continental countries crowded 
with soldiers dragging in their wake heavy guns, resulted in an 
extraordinary gathering of two thousand Americans at a hotel one 
afternoon and the formation of a prehminary organization to 
afford relief. Some people who attended the meeting were already 
beginning to feel the pinch of want with Httle prospects of imme- 
diate succor. One man and wife, with four children, had six cents 
when he appealed to Ambassador Page after an exciting escape from 
German territory. 

Oscar Straus, worth ten milhons, struck London with nine 
dollars. Although he had letters of credit for five thousand, he 



THE WORLD TURNED UPSIDE DOWN 35 




WHERE THE WORLD WAR BEGAN. 



36 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR 

was unable to cash them in Vienna. Women hugging newspaper 
bundles containing expensive Paris frocks and milUnery were herded 
in third-class carriages and compelled to stand many hours. They 
reached London utterly fatigued and unkempt, but mainly cheer- 
ful, only to find the hotels choked with fellow countrymen fortunate 
to reach there sooner. 

The Ambassador was harassed by anxious women and children 
who asked many absurd questions which he could not answer. 
He said: 

"The appeals of these people are most distressing. They 
are very much excited, and no small wonder. I regret I have no 
definite news of the prospects or plans of the government for 
rehef. I have communicated their condition to the Department of 
State and expect a response and assurances of coming aid as soon 
as possible. That the government will act I have not the shghtest 
doubt. I am confident that Washington will do everything in her 
power for rehef. How soon, I cannot tell. I have heard many 
distressing tales during the last forty-eight hours." 

A crowd filled the Ambassador's office on the first floor of the 
flat building, in Victoria Street, which was mainly composed of 
women, school teachers, art students, and other persons doing 
Europe on a shoestring. Many were entirely out of money and 
with limited securities, which were not negotiable. 

The action of the British Government extending the bank 
holiday till Thursday of that week was discouraging news for the 
new arrivals from the Continent, as it was uncertain whether the 
express and steamship companies would open in the morning for the 
cashing of checks and the dehvery of mail, as was announced the 
previous Saturday. 

Doctors J. Riddle Goffe, of New York; Frank F. Simpson, of 
Pittsburgh; Arthur D. Ballon of Vistaburg, Mich., and B. F. 
Martin, of Chicago, formed themselves into a committee, and 
asked the co-operation of the press in America to bring about 
adequate assistance for the marooned Americans, and to urge the 
bankers of the United States to insist on their letters of credit 
and travelers' checks being honored so far, as possible by the agents 
in Europe upon whom they were drawn. 

Dr. Martin and Dr. Simpson, who left London on Saturday 
for Switzerland to fetch back a young American girl, were unable 




THE CATHEDRAL OF RHEIMS 

In the first weeks of the war the Germans occupied Rheims, but were driven 
out aSer von KTuck's Retreat. On September 20, 1914, they were reported as 
first sheiulg the Cathedral of Rheims and the cxyihzed ^^jl^ stood agh^^^^^^^ the 
edifice, begun in 1212, is one of the chief glories of Gothic architecture 
Europe. 



THE WORLD TURNED UPSIDE DOWN 39 

to get beyond Paris, and they returned to London. Everywhere 
they found trains packed with refugees whose only object in hfe 
apparently was to reach the channel boats, accepting cheerfully the 
discomforts of those vessels if only able to get out of the war. 

Rev. J. P. Garfield, of Claremore, N. H., gave the following 
account of his experiences in Holland: 

''On saiUng from the Hook of Holland near midnight we pulled 
out just as the boat train from The Hague arrived. The steamer 
paused, but as she was filled to her capacity she later pontinued on 
her voyage J leaving fully two hundred persons marooned on the 
wharf. 

"Our discomforts while crossing the North Sea were great. 
Every seat was filled with sleepers, the cabins were given to women 
and children- The crowd, as a rule, was helpful and kindly, the 
single men carrying the babies and people lending money to those 
without funds. Despite the refugee conditions prevailing it was 
noticeable that many women on the Hook wharf clung tenaciously 
to bandboxes containing Parisian hats." 

Travelers from Cologne said that searchlights were operated 
from the tops of the hotels all night searching for airplanes, and 
machine guns were mounted on the famous Cologne Cathedral. 
They also reported that tourists were refused hotel accommodations 
at Frankfort because they were without cash. 

Men, women and children sat in the streets all night. The 
trains were stopped several miles from the German frontier and the 
passengers, especially the women and children, suffered great 
hardship being forced to continue their journey on foot. 

Passengers arriving at London from Montreal on the Cunard 
Line steamer Andania, bound for Southampton, reported the vessel 
was met at sea by a British torpedo boat and ordered by wireless 
to stop. The liner then was led into Plymouth as a matter of pre- 
caution against mines. Plymouth was filled with soldiers, and 
searchlights were seen constantly flashing about the harbor. 

Otis B. Kent, an attorney for the Interstate Coromerce Com- 
mission, of Washington, arrived in London after an exciting journey 
from Petrograd. Unable to find acconmiodations at a hotel he slept 
on the railway station floor. He said: 

"I had been on a trip to Sweden to see the midnight sun. I 
did not realize the gravity of the situation until I saw the Russian 



40 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR 

fleet cleared for action. This was only July 26th, at Kronstadt, 
where the shipyards were working overtime. 

"I arrived at the Russian capital on the following day. Enor- 
mous demonstrations were taking place. I was warned to get out 
and left on the night of the 28th for BerUn. I saw Russian soldiers 
drilling at the stations and artillery constantly on the move. 

"At Berlin I was warned to keep off the streets for fear of 
being mistaken for an Enghshmen. At Hamburg the number of 
warnings was increased. Two Russians who refused to rise in a 
caf6 when the German anthem was played were attacked and badly 
beaten. I also saw two Enghshmen attacked in the street, but they 
finally were rescued by the pohce. 

"There was a harrowing scene when the Hamburg- American 
Line steamer Imperator canceled its sailing. She left stranded 
three thousand passengers, most of them short of money, and the 
women waiHng. About one hundred and fifty of us were given 
passage in the second class of the American Line steamship Phila- 
delphia, for which I was offered $400 by a speculator. 

"The journey to Flushing was made in a packed train, its 
occupants lacking sleep and food. No trouble was encountered 
on the frontier." 

Theodore Hetzler, of the Fifth Avenue Bank, was appointed 
chairman of the meeting for prehminary reHef of the stranded 
tourists, and committees were named to interview officials of the 
steamship companies and of the hotels, to search for lost baggage, 
to make arrangements for the honoring of all proper checks and 
notes, and to confer with the members of the American embassy. 

Oscar Straus, who arrived from Paris, said that the United 
States embassy there was working hard to get Americans out of 
France. Great enthusiasm prevailed at the French capital, he 
said, owing to the announcement that the United States Government 
was considering a plan to send transports to take Americans home. 

The following conmiittees were appointed at the meeting: 

Finance — ^Theodore Hetzler, Fred I. Kent and James G. 
Cannon; Transportation — ^Joseph F. Day, Francis M. Weld and. 
George D. Smith, all of New York; Diplomatic — Oscar S. Straus, 
Walter L. Fisher and James Byrne; Hotels — L. H. Armour, of 
Chicago, and Thomas J. Shanley, New York. 

The committee established headquarters where Americans 



THE WORLD TURNED UPSIDE DOWN 41 

might register and obtain assistance. Chandler Anderson, a mem- 
ber of the International Claims Commission, arrived in London 
from Paris. He said he had been engaged with the work of the 
commission at Versailles, when he was warned by the American 
embassy that he had better leave France. He acted promptly 
on this advice and the commission was adjourned until after the 
war. Mr. Anderson had to leave his baggage behind him because 
the railway company would not register it. He said the city of 
Paris presented a strange contrast to the ordinary animation pre- 
vaihng there. Most of the shops were closed. [There v/ere 
no taxis in the streets, and only a few vehicles drawn by 
horses. 

The armored cruiser Tennessee, converted for the time being 
into a treasure ship, left New York on the night of August 6th, 
1914, to carry $7,500,000 in gold to the many thousand Americans 
who were in want in European countries. Included in the 
$7,500,000 was $2,500,000 appropriated by the government. 
Private consigimients in gold in sums from $1,000 to $5,000 were 
accepted by Colonel Smith, of the army quartermaster's depart- 
ment, who undertook their delivery to Americans in Paris and other 
European ports. 

The cruiser carried as passengers Ambassador Willard, v/ho 
returned to his post at Madrid, and army and naval officers assigned 
as military observers in Europe. On the return trip accommoda- 
tions for 200 Americans were available. 

The dreadnaught Florida, after being hastily coaled and 
provisioned, left the Brooklyn Navy Yard under sealed orders at 
9.30 o'clock the morning of August 6th and proceeded to Tompkins- 
ville, where she dropped anchor near the Tennessee. 

The Florida was sent to protect the neutrality of American 
ports and prohibit supplies to belligerent ships. Secretary 
Daniels ordered her to watch the port of New York and sent the 
Mayflower to Hampton Roads. Destroyers guarded ports along 
the New England coast and those at Lewes, Del., to prevent viola- 
tions of neutrality at Philadelphia and in that territory. Any 
vessel that attempted to sail for a belUgerent port without clear- 
ance papers was boarded by American officials. 

The Texas and Louisiana, at Vera Cruz, and the Minnesota, 
at Tampico, were ordered to New York, and Secretary Daniels 



42 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR 

announced that other American vessels would be ordered north 
as fast as room could be found for them m navy yard docks. 

At wireless stations, under the censorship ordered by the 
President, no code messages were allowed in any circumstances. 
Messages which might help any of the beUigerents in any way 
were barred. 

The torpedo-boat destroyer Warrington and the revenue 
cutter Androscoggin arrived at Bar Harbor on August 6th, to 
enforce neutrahty regulations and allowed no foreign ships to leave 
Frenchman's Bay without clearance papers. The United States 
cruiser Milwaukee sailed the same day from the Puget Sound Navy 
Yard to form part of the coast patrol to enforce neutrahty 
regulations. 

Arrangements were made in Paris by Myron T. Herrick, the 
American Ambassador, acting under instructions from Washington, 
to take over the affairs of the German embassy, while Alexander 
H. Thackara, the American Consul General, looked after the affairs 
of the German consulate. 

President Poincare and the members of the French cabinet 
later issued a joint proclamation to the French nation in which 
was the phrase "mobihzation is not war." 

The marching of the soldiers in the streets with the Enghsh, 
Russian and French flags flying, the singing of patriotic songs and 
the shouting of "On to Berlin!" were much less remarkable than 
the general demeanor and cold resolution of most of the people. 

The response to the order of mobiUzation was instant, and the 
stations of all the railways, particularly those leading to the east- 
ward, were crowded with reservists. > Many women accompanied 
the men until close to the stations, where, softly crying, farewells 
were said. The troop trains left at frequent intervals. All the 
automobile busses disappeared, having been requisitioned by the 
army to carry meat, the coachwork of the vehicles being removed 
and replaced with specially designed bodies. A large number of 
taxicabs, private automobiles and horses and carts also were taken 
over by the military for transport purposes. 

The wildest enthusiasm was manifested on the boulevards 
when the news of the ordering of the mobiUzation became known. 
Bodies of men formed into regular companies in ranks ten deep, 
paraded the streets waving the tricolor and other national emblems 



THE WORLD TURNED UPSIDE DOWN 43 

and cheering and singing the '' Marseillaise" and the ''Interna- 
tionale," at the same time throwing then- hats in the air. On the 
sidewalks were many weeping women and children. All the 
stores and cafes were deserted. 

All foreigners were compelled to leave Paris or France before 
the end of the first day of mobihzation by train but not by auto- 
mobile. Time tables were posted on the walls of Paris giving the 
times of certain trains on which these people might leave the city. 

American citizens or British subjects were allowed to remain 
in France, except in the regions on the eastern frontier and near 
certain fortresses, provided they made declaration to the police 
and obtained a special permit. 

As to Italy's situation, Rome was quite calm and the normal 
aspect made tourists decide that Italy was the safest place. Aus- 
tria's note to Serbia was issued without consulting Italy. One 
point of the Triple Alliance provided that no member should take 
action in the Balkans before an agreement with the other allies. 
Such an agreement did not take place. The alliance was of defen- 
sive, not aggressive, character and could not force an ally to follow 
any enterprise taken on the sole account and without a notice, as 
such action taken by Austria against Serbia. It was felt even then 
that Italy would eventually cast its lot with the Entente AlUes. 

Secretary of the Treasury WilHam G. McAdoo; John Skelton 
Wilhams, Comptroller of the Currency; Charles S. Hambhn and 
William P. G. Harding, members of the Federal Reserve Board, 
went to New York early in August, 1914, where they discussed 
relief measures with a group of leading bankers at what was 
regarded as the most momentous conference of the kind held in 
the country in recent years. 

The New York Clearing House Conomittee, on August 2d, 
called a meeting of the Clearing House Association, to arrange for 
the immediate issuance of clearing house certificates. Among 
those at the conference were J. P. Morgan and his partner, Henry 
P. Davison; Frank A. Vanderlip, president of the National City 
Bank, and A. Barton Hepburn, chairman of the Chase National 
Bank. 




CHAPTER III 

Why the ¥/orld Went to War 

'HILE it is true that the war was conceived in Berlin, 
it is none the less true that it was born in the Balkans. 
It is necessary in order that we may view with correct 
perspective the background of the World War, that 
we gain some notion of the Balkan States and the compUcations 
entering into their relations. These countries have been the 
adopted children of the great European powers during generations 
of rulers. Russia assumed guardianship of the nations having a pre- 
ponderance of Slavic blood; Roumania with its Latin consan- 
guinities was close to France and Italy; Bulgaria, Greece, and 
Balkan Turkey were debatable regions wherein the diplomats of the 
rival nations secured temporary victories by devious methods. 

The Balkans have fierce hatreds and have been the site of 
sudden historic wars. At the time of the declaration of the World 
War, the Balkan nations were living under the provisions of the 
Treaty of Bucharest, dated August 10, 1913. Greece, Roumania, 
Bulgaria, Serbia and Montenegro were signers, and Turkey 
acquiesced in its provisions. 

The assassination at Sarajevo had sent a convulsive shudder 
throughout the Balkans. The reason lay in the century-old 
antagonism between the Slav and the Teuton. Serbia, Montenegro 
and Russia had never forgiven Austria for seizing Bosnia and 
Herzegovina and making these Slavic people subjects of the 
Austrian crown. Bulgaria, Roumania and Turkey remained cold 
at the news of the assassination. German diplomacy was in the 
ascendant at these courts and the prospect of war with Germany as 
their great ally presented no terrors for them. The sympathies of 
the people of Greece were with Serbia, but the Grecian Court, 
because the Queen of Greece was the only sister of the German 
Kaiser, was whole heartedly with Austria. Perhaps at the first 
the Roumanians were most nearly neutral. They believed strongly 
that each of the small nations of the Balkan region as well as all 

44 



WHY THE WORLD WENT TO WAR 



45 



of the small nations that had been absorbed but had not been 
digested by Austria, should cut itself from the leading strings held 
by the large European powers. There was a distinct undercurrent 
for a federation resembling that of the United States of America 




Provisions of thb Treaty op Bucharest, 1913 



between these peoples. This was expressed most clearly by M. 

Jonesco, leader of the Liberal party of Roumania and generally 

recognized as the ablest statesman of middle Europe. He declared : 

'*I always believed, and still believe, that the Balkan States 



46 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR 

cannot secure their future otherwise than by a close understanding 
among themselves, whether this understanding shall or shall not 
take the form of a federation. No one of the Balkan States is 
strong enough to resist the pressure from one or another of the 
European powers. 

*'For this reason I am deeply grieved to see in the Balkan 
coalition of 1912 Roumania not invited. If Roumania had taken 
^ .rt in the first one, we should not have had the second. I did all 
that was in my power and succeeded in preventing the war between 
Roimiania and the Balkan League in the winter of 1912-13. 

"1 risked my popularity, and I do not feel sorry for it. I 
employed all my efforts to prevent the second Balkan war, which, as 
is well known, was profitable to us. I repeatedly told the Bul- 
garians that they ought not to enter it because in that case we 
would enter it too. But I was not successful in my efforts. 

''During the second Balkan war I did all in my power to end 
it as quickly as possible. At the conference at Bucharest I made 
efforts, as Mr. Pashich and Mr. Venizelos know very well, to secure 
for beaten Bulgaria the best terms. My object was to obtain a new 
coalition of all the Balkan States, including Roumania. Had I 
succeeded in this the situation would be much better. No rea- 
sonable man will deny that the Balkan States are neutralizing each 
other at the present time, which in itself makes the whole situation 
all the more miserable. 

''In October, 1913, when I succeeded in faciHtating the con- 
clusion of peace between Greece and Turkey, I was pursuing the 
same object of the Balkan coalition. On my retm-n from Athens 
I endeavored, though without success, to put the Greco-Turkish 
relations on a basis of friendship, being convinced that the well- 
understood interest of both countries lies not only in friendly 
relations, but even in an alliance between them. 

"The dissensions that exist between the Balkan States can 
be settled in a friendly way without war. The best moment for 
this would be after the general war, when the map of Europe will 
be remade. The Balkan country wliich would start war against 
another Balkan country would conmiit, not only a crime against 
her own future, but an act of folly as well. 

"The destiny and future of the Balkan States, and of all the 
small European peoples as well, will not be regulated by fratricidal 



WHY THE WORLD WENT TO WAR 47 

wars, but, with this great European struggle, the real object of 
which is to settle the question whether Europe shall enter an era 
of justice, and therefore happiness for the small peoples, or whether 
we will face a period of oppression more or less gilt-edged. And 
as I always believed that wisdom and truth will triumph in the 
end, I want to believe, too, that, in spite of the pessimistic news 
reaching me from the different sides of the Balkan countries, there 
will be no war among them in order to justify those who do r.r ', 
believe in the vitahty of the small peoples." 

The conference at Rome, April 10, 1918, to settle outstanding 
questions between the Italians and the Slavs of the Adriatic, drew 
attention to those Slavonic peoples in Europe who were under non- 
Slavonic rule. At the beginrdng of the war there were three great 
Slavonic groups in Europe: First, the Russians with the Little 
Russians, speaking languages not more different than the dialect 
of Yorkshire is from the dialect of Devonshire; second, a central 
group, including the Poles, the Czechs or Bohemians, the Mora- 
vians, and Slovaks, this group thus being separated under the four 
crowns of Russia, Germany, Austria and Hungary; the third, the 
southern group, included the Sclavonians, the Croatians, the 
Dalmatians, Bosnians, Herzegovinians, the Slavs, generally called 
Slovenes, in the western part of Austria, down to Goritzia, and also 
the two independent kingdoms of Montenegro and Serbia. 

Like the central group, this southern group of Slavs was 
divided under foxir crowns, Hungary, Austria, Montenegro, and 
Serbia; but, in spite of the fact that half belong to the Western 
and haK to the Eastern Church, they are all essentially the same 
people, though with considerable infusion of non-Slavonic blood, 
there being a good deal of Turkish blood in Bosnia and Herzegovina. 
The lan^ages, however, are practically identical, formed largely 
of pure Slavonic materials, and, curiously, much more closely con- 
nected with the eastern Slav group — Russia and Little Russia — 
than with the central group, Pohsh and Bohemian. A Russian 
of Moscow will find it much easier to understand a Slovene from 
Goritzia than a Pole from Warsaw. The Ruthenians, in southern 
Galicia and Bukowina, are identical in race and speech with the 
Little Russians of Ukrainia. 

Of the central group, the Poles have generally inclined to 
Austria, which has always supported the Polish landlords of Galicia 



48 



HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR 



against the Ruthenian peasantry; while the Czechs have been not 
so much anti-Austrian as anti-German. Indeed, the Hapsburg 
rulers have again and again played these Slavs off against their 
German subjects. It was the Southern Slav question as affecting 
Serbia and Austria, that gave the pretext for the present war. 
The central Slav question affecting the destiny of the Poles — was a 
bone of contention between Austria and Germany. It is the custom 
to call the Southern Slavs ''Jugoslavs" from the Slav word Yugo, 
"south," but as this is a concession to German transhteration, 




Teb Mixture of Races in South Central Europe 



many prefer to write the word ''Yugoslav," which represents 
its pronunciation. The South Slav question was created by 
the incursions of three Asiatic peoples— Huns, Magyars, Turks 
— ^^vho broke up the originally continuous Slav territory that 
ran from the White Sea to the confines of Greece and the 
Adriatic. 

This v/as the complex of nationalities, the ferment of races 
existing in 1914. Out of the hatreds engendered by the domination 
over the liberty-loving Slavic peoples by an arrogant Teutonic 
minority grew the assassinations at Sarajevo. These crimes were 



^^HY THE WORLD WENT TO WAR 51 

the expression of hatred not for the heir apparent of Austria but 
for the Hapsburg and their Germanic associates. 

By a twist of the wheel of fate, the same Slavic peoples whose 
determination to rid themselves of the Teutonic yoke, started 
the war, also bore rather more than their share in the swift-moving 
events that decided and closed the war. 

Russia, the dying giant among the great nations, championed 
the Slavic peoples at the beginning of the war. It entered the 
conflict in aid of httle Serbia, but at the end Russia bowed to 
Germany in the infamous peace treaty at Brest-Litovsk. There- 
after during the last months of the v\^ar Russia was virtually an 
ally of its ancient enemy, Turkey, the ''Sick Man of Europe," and 
the central German empires. With these alhes the Bolshevik 
government of Russia attempted to head off the Czecho-Slovak 
regiments that had been captured by Russia during its drive into 
Austria and had been imprisoned in Siberia. After the peace con- 
summated at Brest-Litovsk, these regiments determined to fight 
on the side of the Alhes and endeavored to make their way to the 
western front. 

No war problems were more difficult than those of the Czecho- 
slovaks. Few have been handled so masterfully. Surrounded by 
powerful enemies which for centuries have been bent on destroying 
every trace of Slavic culture, they had learned how to defend them- 
selves against every trick or scheme of the brutal Germans. 

The Czecho-Slovak plan in Russia was of great value to the 
Allies all over the world, and was put at thek service by Professor 
Thomas G. Masaryk. ' He went to Russia when everything was 
adrift and got hold of Bohemian prisoners here and there and 
organized them into a compact httle army of 50,000 to 60,000 men. 
Equipped and fed, he moved them to whatever point had most 
power to thoroughly disrupt the German plans. They did much to 
check the German army for months. They resolutely refused to 
take any part in Russian political affairs, and when it seemed no 
longer possible to work effectively in Russia, this remarkable httle 
band started on a journey all round the world to get to the western 
front. They loyally gave up most of their arms under agreement 
with Lenine and Trotzky that they might peacefully proceed out 
of Russia via Vladivostok. 

While they were carrying out their part of the agreement, and 



52 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR 

well on the way, they were surprised by telegrams from Lenine 
and Trotzky to the Soviets in Siberia ordering them to take away 
)their arms and intern them. 

The story of what occurred then was told by two American 
engineers, Emerson and Hawkins, who, on the way to Ambassador 
Francis, and not being able to reach Vologda, joined a band of 
four or five thousand. The engineers were with them three months, 
while they were making it safe along the hues of the railroad for the 
rest of the Czecho-Slovaks to get out, and incidentally for Siberians 
to resume peaceful occupations. They were also supported by old 
railway organizations which had stuck bravely to them with- 
out wages and which every little while were ''shot up" by the 
Bolshevild. 

Distress in Russia would have been much more intense had 
it not been for the loyalty of the railway men in sticking to their 
tasks. Some American engineers at Irkutsk, on a peaceful journey 
out of Russia, on descending from the cars were met mth a demand 
to surrender, and shots from machine guns. Some, fortunately, 
had kept hand grenades, and with these and a few rifles went 
straight at the machine guns. Although outnumbered, the attackers 
took the guns and soon afterward took the town. The Czecho- 
slovaks, in the beginning almost unarmed, went against great odds 
and won for themselves the right to be considered a nation. 

Seeing the treachery of Lenine and Trotzky, they went back 
toward the west and made things secure for their men left behind. 
They took town after town with the arms they first took away from 
the Bolsheviki and Germans; but in every town they immediately 
set up a government, with all the elements of normal Hfe. They 
established pohce and sanitary systems, opened hospitals, and had 
roads repaired, leaving a handful of men in the midst of enemies 
to carry on the plans of their leaders. American engineers speaking 
of the cleanliness of the Czecho-Slovak army, said that they 
lived like Spartans. 

The whole story is a remarkable evidence of the struggle of 
these little people for self-government. 

The emergence of the Czecho-Slovak nation has been one of the 
most remarkable and noteworthy features of the war. Out of the 
confusion of the situation, with the possibility of the resurrection 
of oppressed peoples, something of the dignity of old Bohemia was 



WHY THE WORLD WENT TO WAR 53 

comprehended, and it was recognized that the Czechs were to be 
rescued from Austria and the Slovaks from Hungary, and united in 
one country with entire independence. This was undoubtedly due, 
in large measure, to the activities of Professor Masaryk, the presi- 
dent of the National Executive Council of the Czecho-Slovaks. 
His four-year exile in the United States had the estabhshment of 
the new nation as its fruit. 

Professor Masaryk called attention to the fact that there is a 
pecuhar discrepancy between the number of states in Europe and 
the number of nationahties — twenty-seven states to seventy 
nationahties. He explained, also, that almost all the states are 
mixed, from the point of nationaHty. From the west of Europe to 
the east, this is found to be true, and the farther east one goes the 
more mixed do the states become. Austria is the most mixed of all 
the states. There is no Austrian language, but there are nine 
languages, and six smaller nations or remnants of nations. In all 
of Germany there are eight nationahties besides the Germans, who 
have been independent, and who have their own hterature. Turkey 
is an anomaly, a combination of various nations overthrown and 
kept down. 

Since the eighteenth century there has been a continuing 
strong movement from each nation to have its own state. Because 
of the mixed peoples, there is much confusion. There are Rouma- 
nians in Austria, but there is a kingdom of Roumania. There are 
Southern Slavs, but there are also Serbia and Montenegro. It is 
natural that the Southern Slavs should want to be united as one 
state. So it is with Italy. 

There was no justice in Poland being separated in three parts 
to serve the dynasties of Prussia, Russia and Austria. The Czecho- 
slovaks of Austria and Hungary claimed a union The national 
union consists in an endeavor to make the suppressed nations free, 
to unite them in their own states, and to readjust the states that 
exist; to force Austria and Prussia to give up the states that should 
be free. 

In the future, said Doctor Masaryk, there are to be sharp 
ethnological boundaries. The Czecho-Slovaks will guarantee the 
minorities absolute equahty, but they will keep the German part 
of their country, because there are many Bohemians in it, and 
they do not trust the Germans. 




CHAPTER IV 

The Plotter Behind the Scenes 

^NE factor alone caused the great war. It was not the 
assassination at Sarajevo, not the Slavic ferment of 
anti-Teutonism in Austria and the Balkans. The only- 
cause of the world's greatest war was the determination 
of the German High Command and the powerful circle surrounding 
it that "Der Tag" had arrived. The assassination at Sarajevo 
was only the peg for the pendant of war. Another peg would 
have been found inevitably had not the projection of that assas- 
sination presented itself as the excuse. 

Germany's miUtary machine was ready. A gray-green uniform 
that at a distance would fade into misty^^obscurity had been devised 
after exhaustive experiments by optical, dye and cloth experts 
co-operating with the mihtary high command. These uniforms 
had been standardized and fitted for the milUons of men enrolled 
in Germany's regular and reserve armies. Pifles, great pyramids 
of munitions, field kitchens, travehng post-offices, motor lorries, a 
network of mihtary railways leading to the French and Belgian 
border, all these and more had been made ready. German soldiers 
had received instructions which enabled each man at a signal to go 
to an appointed place where he found everything in readiness for 
his long forced marches into the territory of Germany's neighbors. 

More than all this, Germany's spy system, the most elaborate 
and unscrupulous in the history of mankind, had enabled the Ger- 
man High Command to construct in advance of the declaration of 
war concrete gun emplacements in Belgium and other invaded 
territory. The cellars of dwellings and shops rented or owned by 
German spies were camouflaged concrete foundations for the great 
guns of Austria and Germany. These emplacements were in 
exactly the right position for use against the fortresses of Ger- 
many's foes. Advertisements and shop-signs were used by spies 
as guides for the marching German armies of invasion. 

In brief, Germany had planned for war. She was approxi- 

54 



.mm 






fi .^ .5 .^^'' "^.<fr'^ ,,-... .«.^"""'^ 






1 .^H^S^^H 

1? .jfllK^H 


|:^;!:^B 


^^^^HHHHf^P 


W^^^^W ■ 


r?-l^^^ 


^l"'" ,:,^jF 






t^ ' ^ •' ' m^&^ ■ 


^ ^:UX^^' ■ v.J;iif 


-1. '„^-'-^vv .-f^^H 


1# if ft^O" "/^?'' "^f ■' **• 


'■ ^ A- -.aaisJi 



© Press lUustrating Service. 

EAISER WILLIAM H OF GERMANY 
Posterity will regard him as more responsible than any other human being 
for the sacrifice of mMons of lives in the great war, as a ruler who might have 
been beneficent and wise, but attempted to destroy the hberties of mankind 
and to raise on their ruins an odious despotism. To forgive him and to forget hia 
terrible transgressions would be to condone them. 



rSijIli 




THE PLOTTER BEHIND THE SCENES 



57 



mately ready for it. Under the shelter of such high-sounding 
phrases as ''We demand our place in the sun," and ''The seas 
must be free," the German people were educated into the belief 
that the hour of Germany's destiny was at hand. 




Germany's Possessions in Africa Prior to 1914 

German psychologists, like other German scientists, had 
co-operated with the imperial militaristic government for many 
years to bring the Germanic mind into a condition of docility. 
So well did they understand the mentality and the trends of 
character of the German people that it was comparatively easy to 
impose upon them a militaristic system and philosophy by which 
the individual yielded countless personal liberties for the alleged 
good of the state. Rigorous and compulsory military service, 
unquestioning adherence to the doctrine that might makes right 



58 HISTOHY OF THE WORLD WAR 

and a cession to ''the All-Highest," as the Emperor was styled, of 
supreme powers in the state, are some of the sufferances to which 
the German people submitted. 

German propaganda abroad was quite as vigorous as at home, 
but infinitely less successful. The German High Conmiand did 
not expect England to enter the war. It counted upon America's 
neutraUty with a leaning toward Germany. It beheved that 
German colonization in South Africa and South America would 
incline these vast domains toward friendship for the Central 
empires. How mistaken the propagandists and psychologists were 
events have demonstrated. 

It was this dream of world-domination by Teutonic kultur 
that supplied the motive leading to the world's greatest war. 
Bosnia, an unwilling province of Austria-Hungary, at one time a 
province of Serbia and overwhelmingly Slavic in its population, 
had been seething for years with an anti-Teutonic ferment. The 
Teutonic court at Vienna, leading the minority Germanic party 
in Austria-Hungary, had been endeavoring to allay the agitation 
among the Bosnian Slavs. In pursuance of that poHcy, Archduke 
Francis Ferdinand, heir-presumptive to the thrones of Austria and 
Hungary, and his morganatic wife, Sophia Chotek, Duchess of 
Hohenberg, on June 28, 1914, visited Sarajevo, the capital of 
Bosnia. On the morning of that day, while they were being 
driven through the narrow streets of the ancient town, a bomb 
was thrown at them, but they were uninjured. They were 
driven through the streets again in the afternoon, for purpose of 
public display. A student, just out of his 'teens, one Gavrilo 
Prinzep, attacked the royal party with a magazine pistol and 
killed both the Archduke and his wife. 

Here was the excuse for which Germany had waited. Here 
v^^as the dawn of ''The Day." The Germanic court of Austria 
asserted that the crime was the result of a conspiracy, leading 
directly to the Slavic court of Serbia. The Serbians in their turn 
declared that they knew nothing of the assassination. They 
pointed out the fact that Sophia Chotek was a Slav, and that 
Francis Ferdinand was more liberal than any other member of the 
Austrian royal household, and finally, that he, more than any 
other member of the Austrian court, understood and respected 
the Slavic character and aspirations. 



THE PLOTTER BEHIND THE SCENES 59 

At six o'clock on the evening of July 23d, Austria sent an 
ultimatum to Serbia, presenting eleven demands and stipulating 
that categorical replies must be delivered before six o'clock on the 
evening of July 25th. Although the language in which the ulti- 
matum was couched was humiliating to Serbia, the answer was 
duly delivered within the stipulated time. 

The demands of the Austrian note in brief were as follows: 

1. The Serbian Government to give formal assurance of its con- 
demnation of Serb propaganda against Austria. 

2. The next issue of the Serbian ''OfEcial Journal" was to contain 
a declaration to that effect. 

3. This declaration to express regret that Serbian officers had taken 
part in the propaganda. 

4. The Serbian Government to promise that it would proceed rigor- 
ously against all guilty of such activity. 

5. This declaration to be at once communicated by the King of 
Serbia to his army, and to be pubKshed in the official bulletin as an order 
of the day. 

6. AU anti-Austrian publications in Serbia to be suppressed. 

7. The Serbian political party knov/n as the "National Union" to 
be suppressed, and its means of propaganda to be confiscated. 

8. All anti- Austrian teaching in the schools of Serbia to be suppressed, 

9. AU officers, civil and military, who might be designated by Austria 
as guilty of anti-Austrian propaganda to be dismissed by the Serbian 
Government. 

10. Austrian agents to co-operate with the Serbian Government in 
suppressing all anti- Austrian propaganda, and to take part in the judicial 
proceedings conducted in Serbia against those charged with complicity 
in the crime at Sarajevo. 

11. Serbia to explain to Austria the meaning of anti- Austrian utter- 
ances of Serbian officials at home and abroad, since the assassination. 

To the first and second demands Serbia unhesitatingly assented. 

To the tliird demand, Serbia assented, although no evidence 
was given to show that Serbian officers had taken part in the 
propaganda. 

The Serbian Government assented to the fourth, fifth, sixth, 
seventh and eighth demands also. 

Extraordinary as was the ninth demand, which would allow 
the Austrian Government to proscribe Serbian officials, so eager 
for peace and friendship was the Serbian Government that it 



60 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR 

assented to it, with the stipulation that the Austrian Government 
should offer some proof of the guilt of the proscribed officers. 

The tenth demand, which in efiect allowed Austrian agents to 
control the police and courts of Serbia, it was not possible for 
Serbia to accept without abrogating her sovereignty. However, 
it was not unconditionally rejected, but the Serbian Government 
asked that it be made the subject of further discussion, or be 
referred to arbitration. 

The Serbian Government assented to the eleventh demand, 
on the condition that if the explanations which would be given 
concerning the alleged anti-Austrian utterances of Serbian officials 
would not prove satisfactory to the Austrian Government, the 
matter should be submitted to mediation or arbitration. 

Behind the threat conveyed in the Austrian ultimatum was 
the menacing figure of militant Germany. The veil that had 
hitherto concealed the hands that worked the string, was removed 
when Germany, under the pretense of localizing the quarrel to 
Serbian and Austrian soil, interrogated France and England, 
asking them to prevent Russia from defending Serbia in the event 
of an attack by Austria upon the Serbs. England and France 
promptly refused to participate in a tragedy which would deliver 
Serbia to Austria as Bosnia had been delivered. Russia, bound by 
race and creed to Serbia, read into the ultimatum of Teutonic 
kultur a determinauxon for warfare. Mobilization of the Russian 
forces along the Austrian frontier was arranged, when it was seen 
that Serbia's pacific reply to Austria's demands would be con- 
temptuously disregarded by Germany and Austria. 

During the days that intervened between the issuance of the 
ultimatum and the actual declaration of war by Germany against 
Russia on Saturday, August 1st, various sincere efforts were made 
to stave off the world-shaking catastrophe. AiTanged chronologic- 
ally, these events may thus be summarized : Russia, on July 24th, 
formally asked Austria if she intended to annex Serbian territory by 
way of reprisal for the assassination at Sarajevo. On the same day 
Austria replied that it had no present intention to make such 
annexation. Russia then requested an extension of the forty- 
e ght-hour time-limit named in the ultimatum. 

Austria, on the morning of Saturday, July 25th, refused Russia's 
request for an extension of the period named in the ultim.atum. 



THE PLOTTER BEHIND THE SCENES 61 

On the same day, the newspapers pubHshed in Petrograd printed 
an official note issued by the Russian Government warning Europe 
generally that Russia would not remain indifferent to the fate of 
Serbia. These newspapers also printed the appeal of the Serbian 
Crown Prince to the Czar dated on the preceding day, urging that 
Russia come to the rescue of the menaced Serbs. Serbia's peaceful 
reply surrendering on all points except one, and agreeing to submit 
that to arbitration, was sent late in the afternoon of the same day, 
and that night Austria declared the reply to be unsatisfactory and 
withdrew its minister from Belgrade. 

England commenced its attempts at pacification on the follow- 
ing day, Sunday, July 26th. Sir Edward Grey spent the entire 
Sabbath in the Foreign Office and personally conducted the corre- 
spondence that was calculated to bring the dispute to a peaceful 
conclusion. He did not reckon, however, with a Germany deter- 
mined upon war, a Germany whose manufacturers, ship-owners 
and Junkers had combined with its militarists to achieve 
''Germany's place in the sun" even though the world would be 
stained in the blood of the most frightful war this earth has ever 
known. Realization of this fact did not come to Sir Edward Grey 
until his negotiations with Germany and with Austria-Hungary 
had proceeded for some time. His first suggestion was that the 
dispute between Russia and Austria be committed to the arbitration 
of Great Britain, France, Italy and Germany. Russia accepted 
this but Germany and Austria rejected it. Russia had previously 
suggested that the dispute be settled by j. conference between the 
diplomatic heads at Vienna and Petrogi-ad. This also was refused 
by Austria. 

Sir Edward Grey renewed his efforts on Monday, July 27th, 
with an invitation to Germany to present suggestions of its own, 
looking toward a settlement. This note was never answered. 
Germany took the position that its proposition to compel Russia 
to stand aside while Austria punished Serbia had been rejected 
by England and France and it had nothing further to propose. 

During all this period of negotiation the German Foreign 
Office, to all outward appearances at least, had been acting inde- 
pendently of the Kaiser, who was in Norway on a vacation trip. 
He returned to Potsdam on the night of Sunday, July 26th. On 
Monday morning the Czar of Russia received a personal message 



62 



HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR 



from the Kaiser, urging Russia to stand aside that Serbia might be 
punished. The Czar immediately replied with the suggestion that 
the whole matter be submitted to The Hague. No reply of any 
kind was ever made to this proposal by Germany. 

All suggestions and negotiations looking forward to peace 
were brought to a tragic end on the following day, Tuesday, July 




Metz ^-^^^JC 0--H-F'«SLB E R A T I O N_/ 




Strassbur^C^'-VVURTEM-) 
A, "f: :■•■ BERG 

O ^ea ■■ 

< Bejfort 

Pi y 

n / oBERNE V'X^^'^*"' 

^ / SWITZERLAED ■"■ / 
/....-■-p.Lauaanne ^, ,-....1 13 .w*""*---^ 




f A 



Boundary of Prussia 
shown thus- 



\ L M B Aft DY y"^- V E N EIlj 
\ °Mifan \ 



Other Boundaries thus- 



^any small German 
States hafe been omit 
ed from this map, 
English Miles 



The German Confederation in 1815 



28th, when Austria declared war on Serbia, having speedily mobihzed 
troops at strategic points on the Serbian border. Russian mobiUza- 
tion, which had been proceeding only in a tentative way, on the 
Austrian border, now became general, and on July 30th, mobilization 
of the entire Russian army was proclaimed. 

Germany's effort to exclude England from the war began on 
Thursday, July 29th. A note, sounding Sir Edward Grey on the 



THE PLOTTER BEHIND THE SCENES 63 

question of British neutrality in the event of war was received, 
and a curt refusal to commit the British Empire to such a proposal 
was the reply. Sir Edward Grey, in a last determined effort to 
avoid a world-war, suggested to Germany, Austria, Serbia and 
Russia that the miUtary operations commenced by Austria should 
be recognized as merely a punitive expedition. He further sug- 
gested that when a point in Serbian territory previously fixed upon 
should have been reached, Austria would halt and would submit 
her further action to arbitration in the conference of the Powers. 
Russia and Serbia agreed unreservedly to this proposition. Austria 
gave a half-hearted assent to the principle involved. Germany 
made no reply. 

The die was cast for war on the following day, July 31st, when 
Germany made a dictatorial and arrogant demand upon Russia 
that mobihzation of that nation's mihtary forces be stopped within 
twelve hours. Russia made no reply, and on Saturday, August 1st, 
Germany set the world aflame with the dread of war's horror by 
her declaration of war upon Russia. 

Germany's responsibihty for this monumental crime against 
the peace of the world is eternally fixed upon her, not only by these 
outward and visible acts and negotiations, not only by her years of 
patient preparation for the war into which she plunged the world. 
The responsibihty is fastened upon her forever by the revelations 
of her own ambassador to England during this fateful period. 
Prince Lichnowsky, in a remarkable communication which was 
given to the world, laid bare the machinations of the German 
High Comimand and its advisers. He was a guest of the Kaiser 
at Kiel on board the Imperial yacht Meteor when the message 
was received informing the Kaiser of the assassination at Sarajevo. 
His story continues: 

Being unacquainted with the Vienna viewpoint and what was going 
on there, I attached no very far-reaching significance to the event; but, 
looking back, I could feel sure that in the Austrian aristocracy a feeKng 
of relief outweighed all others. His Majesty regretted that his efforts 
to win over the Archduke to his ideas had thus been frustrated by the 
Archduke's assassination. . . . 

I went on to Berlin and saw the Chancellor, von Bethmann-Hollweg. 
I told him that I regarded our foreign situation as very satisfactory as it 
was a long time indeed since we had stood so well with England. And in 
France there was a pacifist cabinet. Herr von Bethmann-Hollweg did 



64 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR 

not seem to share my optimism. He complained of the Russian arma- 
ments. I tried to tranquihze him with the argimaent that it was not to 
Russia's interest to attack us, and that such an attack would never have 
EngUsh or French support, as both countries wanted peace. 

I went from him to Dr. Zimxmermann (the under Secretary) who was 
acting for Herr von Jagow (the Foreign Secretary), and learned from him 
that Russia was about to call up nine hundred thousand new troops. 
His words unmistakably denoted ill-himior against Russia, who, he said, 
stood everywhere in our way. In addition, there were questions of com- 
mercial pohcy that had to be settled. That General von Moltke v/as 
urging war was, of course, not told to me. I learned, however, that Herr 
von Tschirschky (the German Ambassador in Vienna) had been reproved 
because he said that he had advised Vienna to show moderation toward 
Serbia. 

Prince Lichnowsky went to his summer home in Silesia, quite 
unaware of the impending crisis. He continues: 

When I returned from Silesia on my way to London, I stopped only 
a few hours in Berlin, where I heard that Austria intended to proceed 
against Serbia so as to bring to an end an unbearable state of affairs. 
Unfortunately, I failed at the moment to gauge the significance of the 
news. I thought that once more it would come to nothing; that even if 
Russia acted threateningly, the m.atter could soon be settled. I now 
regret that I did not stay in Berlin and declare there and then that I 
would have no hand in such a policy. 

There was a meeting in Potsdam, as early as July 5th, between 
the German and Austrian authorities, at which meeting war was 
decided on. Prince Lichnowsky says: 

I learned afterwards that at the decisive discussion at Potsdam on 
July 5th the Austrian demand had met with the unconditional approval 
of all the personages in authority; it was even added that no harm would 
•be done if war with Russia did come out of it. It was so stated at least 
in the Austrian report received at London by Count Mensdorff (the 
Austrian Ambassador to England). 

At this point I received instructions to endeavor to bring the English 
press to a friendly attitude in case Austria should deal the death-blow to 
"Greater-Serbian" hopes. I was to use all my influence to prevent 
pubHc opinion in England from taking a stand against Austria. I remem- 
bered England's attitude during the Bosnian annexation crisis, when 
pubhc opinion showed itself in sympathy with the Serbian claims to Bos- 
nia; I recalled also the benevolent promotion of nationalist hopes that 
went on in the days of Lord Byron and Garibaldi; and on these and other 
grounds I thought it extremely unhkely that EngHsh pubhc opinion would 
support a punitive expedition against the Archduke's murderers. I thus 
felt it my duty to enter an urgent warning against the whole project. 






ft 




X 




0) 




0) 




u 




0? 




o 




-a 




&: 




CO 




;-i 




« 




T3 




(S 




p2 








PI 




• S 








*c 




oj 




bC 




a 


>l 


s 




1^ 


a 


1^ PI 


p 


•2 « 


w 


;^ 




02 


u -t^ 


H 


>g» 


OT 


S.9 


§ 






^£ 


Ck 




O 


"73 


M 


.Sfl 


P< 


^0 




n5 


Pi 


M ^ 




S bO 


Q 


S..9 


CO 

o 


1 -f^ 


P4 


X M 


«;e 


Q 




P4 




w 


«2 


H 


■g 




03 




:a 




TS 




rt 




cj 




ro 




rS 








^ 




03 




^ 








: Ed 



THE PLOTTER BEHIND THE SCENES 67 

which I characterized as venturesome and dangerous, I recommended 
that counsels of moderation be given Austria, as I did not beheve that the 
conflict could be locahzed (that is to say, it could not be hmited to a war 
between Austria and Serbia). 

Herr von Jagow answered me that Russia was not prepared; that 
there would be more or less of a rumpus; but that the more firmly we 
stood by Austria, the more surely would Russia give way. Austria was 
already blaming us for flabbiness and we could not flinch. On the other 
hand, Russian sentiment was growing more unfriendly all the time, and 
we must simply take the risk. I subsequently learned that this attitude 
was based on advices from Count Pourtales (the German Ambassador in 
Petrograd), that Russia would not stir under any circumstances; informa- 
tion which prompted us to spm- Count Berchtold on in his course. On 
learning the attitude of the German Government I looked for salvation 
through Enghsh mediation, knowing that Sir Edward Grey's influence in 
Petrograd could be used in the cause of peace. I, therefore, availed my- 
self of my friendly relations with the Minister to ask him confidentially to 
advise moderation in Russia in case Austria demanded satisfaction from 
the Serbians, as it seemed Kkely she would. 

The Enghsh press was quiet at first, and friendly to Austria, the 
assassination being generally condemned. By degrees, however, more and 
more voices made themselves heard, in the sense that, however necessary 
it might be to take cognizance of the crime, any exploitation of it for 
poHtical ends was unjustifiable. Moderation was enjoined upon Austria. 
When the ultimatum came out, all the papers, with the exception of the 
Standard, were unanimous in condemning it. The whole world, outside 
of Berhn and Vienna, realized that it meant war, and a world war too. 
The Enghsh fleet, wbJch happened to have been holding a naval review, 
was not demobilized. 

The British Government labored to make the Serbian reply 
conciliatory, and ''the Serbian answer was in keeping with the 
British efforts," Sir Edward Grey then proposed his plan of 
mediation upon the two points which Serbia had not wholly con- 
ceded. Prince Lichnowsky writes: 

M. Cambon (for France), Marquis Imperiah (for Italy), and I 
were to meet, with Sir Edward in the chair, and it would have been easy 
to work out a formula for the debated points, which had to do with the 
co-operation of imperial and royal officials in the inquiries to be con- 
ducted at Belgrade. By the exercise of good will everything could have 
been settled in one or two sittings, and the mere acceptance of the British 
proposal would have reheved the strain and further improved oui- rela- 
tions with England. I seconded this plan with all my energies. In vain. 
I was told (by Berhn) that it would be against the dignity of Austria. 
Of course, all that was needed was one hint from Berhn to Count Berch- 



68 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR 

told (the Austrian Foreign Minister); he would have satisfied himself 
with a diplomatic triumph and rested on the Serbian answer. That hint 
was never given. On the contrary, pressure was brought in favor of 
war. . . . 

After our refusal Sir Edward asked us to come forward with our 
proposal. We insisted on war. No other answer could I get (from Berlin) 
than that it was a colossal condescension on the part of Austria not to 
contemplate any acquisition of territory. Sir Edward justly pointed 
out that one could reduce a country to vassalage without acquiring terri- 
tory; that Russia would see this, and regard it as a hiuniUation not to 
be put up with. The impression grew stronger and stronger that we were 
bent on war. Otherwise our attitude toward a question in which we 
were not directly concerned was incomprehensible. The insistent requests 
and well-defined declarations of M. Sasanof, the Czar's positively humble 
telegrams. Sir Edward's repeated proposals, the warnings of Marquis 
San Guihano and of Bollati, my own pressing admonitions were all of no 
avail. Berlin remained inflexible — Serbia must be slaughtered. 

Then, on the 29th, Sir Edward decided upon his well-known warn- 
ing. I told him I had always reported (to Berlin) that we should have to 
reckon with English opposition if it came to a war with France. Time 
and again the Minister said to me, ''If war breaks out it will be the great- 
est catastrophe the world has ever seen." And now events moved rapidly. 
Count Berchtold at last decided to come around, having up to that point 
played the role of ''Strong man" under guidance of Berlin. Thereupon 
we (in answer to Russia's mobilization) sent our ultimatum and declara- 
tion of war — after Russia had spent a whole week in fruitless negotiation 
and v/aiting. 

Thus ended my mission in London. It had suffered shipwreck, not 
on the wiles of the Briton but on the wiles of our own pohcy. Were not 
those right who saw that the German people was pervaded with the 
spirit of Treitschke and Bernhardi, which glorifies war as an end instead 
of holding it in abhorrence as an evil thing? Properly speaking militarism 
is a school for the people and an instrument to further political ends. But 
in the patriarchal absolutism of a military monarchy, miKtarism exploits 
pohtics to further its own ends, and can create a situation which a democ- 
racy freed from junkerdom would not tolerate. 

That is what our enemies think; that is what they are bound to 
think when they see that in spite of capitalistic industriahsm, and in spite 
of sociaHstic organizations, the Hving, as Nietzsche said, are still ruled 
by the dead. The democratization of Germany, the first war aim pro- 
posed by our enemies, will become a reality. 

This is the frank statement of a great German statesman made 
long before Germany received its knock-out blow. It was written 
when Germany was sweeping all before it on land, and when the 
U-boat was at the height of its murderous powers on the high seas. 



THE PLOTTER BEHIND THE SCENES 69 

No one in nor out of Germany has controverted any of its statements 
and it will forever remain as one of the counts in the indictment 
against Germany and the sole cause of the world's greatest misery, 
the war. 

America's outstanding authority on matters of international 
conduct, former Secretary of State Elihu Root declared that the 
World War was a mighty and all-embracing struggle between two 
conflicting principles of human right and human duty; it was a 
conflict between the divine right of kings to govern mankind through 
armies and nobles, and the right of the peoples of the earth who toil 
and endure and aspire to govern themselves by law under justice, 
and in the freedom of individual manhood. 

After the declaration of war against Russia by Germany, 
events marched rapidly and inevitably toward the general con- 
flagration. Germany's most strenuous efforts were directed 
toward keeping England out of the conflict. We have seen in the 
revelations of Prince Lichnowsky how eager was England to divert 
Germany's murderous purpose. There are some details, however, 
required to fill in the diplomatic picture. 

President Poincare, of the French Republic, on July 30th, 
asked the British Ambassador in Paris for an assurance of British 
support. On the following day he addressed a similar letter to 
King George of England. Both requests were quaUfiedly refused 
on the ground that England wished to be free to continue negotia- 
tions with Germany for the purpose of averting the war. In the 
meantime, the German Government addressed a note to England 
offering guarantees for Belgian integrity, providing Belgium did 
not side with France, offering to respect the neutrality of Holland 
and giving assurance that no French territory in Europe would be 
annexed if Germay won the war. Sir Edward Grey described this 
as a "shameful proposal," and rejected it on July 30th. 

On July 31st England sent a note to France and Germany 
asking for a statement of purpose concerning Belgian neutrality. 
France immediately announced that it would respect the treaty 
of 1839 and its reaflarmation in 1870, guaranteeing Belgium's 
neutrahty. This treaty was entered into by Germany, England, 
France, Austria and Russia. Germany's reply on August 1st was 
a proposal that she would respect the neutrality of Belgium if 
England would stay out of the war. This was promptly declined. 



70 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR 

On August 2d the British cabinet agreed that if the German fleet 
attempted to attack the coast of France the British fleet would 
intervene. Germany, the next day, sent a note agreeing to refrain 
from naval attacks on France provided England would remain 
neutral, but declined to commit herself as to the neutrality of 
Belgium. Before this, however, on August 2d, Germany had 
announced to Belgium its intention to enter Belgium for the purpose 
of attacking France. The Belgian Minister in London made an 
appeal to the British Foreign Ofhce and was informed that invasion 
of Belgium by Germany would be followed by England's declaration 
of war. Monday, August 3d, was signaUzed by Belgium's dec- 
laration of its neutrality and its firm purpose to defend its soil 
against invasion by France, England, Germany or any other nation. 

The actual invasion of Belgium commenced on the morning of 
August 4th, when twelve regiments of Uhlans crossed the frontier 
near Vise, and came in contact with a Belgian force driving it back 
upon Liege. King Albert of Belgium promptly appealed to England, 
Russia and France for aid in repelhng the invader. England sent 
an ultimatum to Germany fixing midnight of August 4th as the 
time for expiration of the ultimatum. This demanded that satis- 
factory assurances be furnished imnaediately that Germany would 
respect the neutrahty of Belgium. No reply was made by Germany 
and England's declaration of war followed. 

Chancellor von Bethmann-Hollweg, of the German Empire, 
wrote Germany's infamy into history when, in a formal statement, 
he acknowledged that the invasion of Belgium was "a wrong that 
we will try to make good again as soon as our miUtary ends have 
been reached." To Sir Edward Vochen, British Ambassador to 
Germany, he addressed the inquiry: 'Ts it the purpose of your 
country to make war upon Germany for the sake of a scrap 
of paper?" The treaty of 1839-1870 guaranteeing Belgium's 
neutrality was the scrap of paper. 

With the entrance of England into the war, the issue between 
autocracy and democracy was made plain before the people of the 
world. Austria, and later Turkey, joined with Germany; France, 
and Japan, by reason of their respective treaty obUgations joined 
England and Russia. Italy for the time preferred to remain neu- 
tral, ignoring her implied alliance with the Teutonic empires. 
How other nations lined up on the one side and the other is indicated 




in <o 

no "-J 

2° 
^^ 

pQi; 

03 += 

^ CO . 

>-.fl CO 
I .■+; aj C 

I 03 O P 

! _2 03. s 

^^ 

Q) « S 

ot ° 

g ^ 03 
S •" « 






en .gS 
o3 hC*^ 

d h (l^ 
« fl 01 

'o ^ 

03 03 
^^ 
■*2 *i 



THE PLOTTER BEHIND THE SCENES 73 

by the State Department's list of war declarations, and diplomatic 
severances, which follows: 

Austria against Belgium, Aug. 28, 1914. 

Austria against Japan, Aug. 27, 1914. 

Austria against Montenegro, Aug. 9, 1914. 

Austria against Russia, Aug. 6, 1914. 

Austria against Serbia, July 28, 1914. 

Belgium against Germany, Aug. 4, 1914, 

Brazil against Germany, Oct. 26, 1917. 

Bulgaria against Serbia, Oct. 14, 1915. 

China against Austria, Aug. 14, 1917. 

China against Germany, Aug. 14, 1917. 

Costa Rica against Germany, May 23, 1918. 

Cuba against Germany, April 7, 1917. 

Cuba against Austria-Hungary, Dec. 16, 1917. 

France against Austria, Aug. 13, 1914. 

France against Bulgaria, Oct. 16, 1915. 

France against Germany, Aug. 3, 1914. 

France against Turkey, Nov. 5, 1914. 

Germany against Belgium, Aug. 4, 1914. 

Germany against France, Aug. 3, 1914. 

Germany against Portugal, March 9, 1916. 

Germany against Roumania, Sept. 14, 1916. 

Germany against Russia, Aug. 1, 1914. 

Great Britain against Austria, Aug. 13, 1914. 

Great Britain against Bulgaria, Oct. 15, 1915. 

Great Britain against Germany, Aug. 4, 1914. 

Great Britain against Turkey, Nov. 5, 1914. 

Greece against Bulgaria, Nov. 28, 1916. (Provisional Government.) 

Greece against Bulgaria, July 2, 1917. (Government of Alexander.) 

Greece against Germany, Nov. 28, 1916. (Provisional Government.) 

Greece against Germany, July 2, 1917. (Government of Alexander.) 

Guatemala against Germany and Austria-Hungary, April 22, 1918. 

Haiti against Germany, July 15, 1918. 

Honduras against Germany, July 19, 1918. 

Italy against Austria, May 24, 1915. 

Italy against Bulgaria, Oct. 19, 1915. 

Italy against Germany, Aug. 28, 1916. 

Italy against Turkey, Aug. 21, 1915. 

Japan against Germany, Aug. 23, 1914. 

Liberia against Germany, Aug. 4, 1917. 

Montenegro against Austria, Aug. 8, 1914. 

Montenegro against Germany, Aug. 9, 1914. 

Nicaragua against Germany, May 24, 1918. 

Panama against Germany, April 7, 1917. 



74 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR 

Panama against Austria, Dec. 10, 1917. 

Portugal against Germany, Nov. 23, 1914. (Resolution passed 
authorizing military intervention as ally of England.) 

Portugal against Germany, May 19, 1915. (Military aid granted.) 

Roumania against Austria, Aug. 27, 1916. (Allies of Austria also 
consider it a declaration.) 

Russia against Germany, Aug. 7, 1914. 

Russia against Bulgaria, Oct. 19, 1915. 

Russia against Turkey, Nov. 3, 1914. 

San Marino against Austria, May 24, 1915. 

Serbia against Bulgaria, Oct. 16, 1915. 

Serbia against Germany, Aug. 6, 1914. 

Serbia against Turkey, Dec. 2, 1914. 

Siam against Austria, July 22, 1917. 

Siam against Germany, July 22, 1917. 

Turkey against AlUes, Nov. 23, 1914. 

Turkey against Roumania, Aug. 29, 1916. 

United States against Germany, April 6, 1917. 

United States against Austria-Hungary, Dec. 7, 1917. 

SEVERANCE OF DIPLOMATIC RELATIONS 

The Nations that formally severed relations whether afterward 
declaring war or not, are as follows: 
Austria against Japan, Aug. 26, 1914. 
Austria against Portugal, March 16, 1916. 
Austria against Serbia, July 26, 1914. 
Austria against United States, April 8, 1917. 
Bolivia against Germany, April 14, 1917. 
BrazH against Germany, April 11, 1917. 
. China against Germany, March 14, 1917. 
Costa Rica against Germany, Sept. 21, 1917. 
Ecuador against Germany, Dec. 7, 1917. 
Egypt against Germany, Aug. 13, 1914. 
France against Austria, Aug. 10, 1914. 

Greece against Turkey, July 2, 1917. (Government of Alexander.) 
Greece against Austria, July 2, 1917. (Government of Alexander.) 
Guatemala against Germany, April 27, 1917. 
Haiti against Germany, June 17, 1917. 
Honduras against Germany, May 17, 1917. 
Nicaragua against Germany, May 18, 1917. 
Peru against Germany, Oct. 6, 1917. 
Santo Domingo against Germany, June 8, 1917. 
Turkey against United States, April 20, 1917. 
United States against Germany, Feb. 3, 1917. 
Uruguay against Germany, Oct. 7, 1917. 




CHAPTER V 

The Geeat Wab Begins 

'EARS before 1914, when Germany declared war against 
civilization, it was decided by the German General Staff 
to strike at France through Belgium. The records of the 
German Foreign Office prove that fact. The reason for 
this lay in the long Une of powerful fortresses along the line that 
divides France from Germany and the sparsely spaced and com- 
paratively out-of-date forts on the border between Germany and 
Belgium. True, there was a treaty guaranteeing the inviolabihty 
of Belgian territory to which Germany was a signatory party. 
Some of the clauses of that treaty were: 

Article 9. Belgium, within the limits traced in conformity with the 
principles laid down in the present preliminaries, shall form a perpetually 
neutral state. The five powers (England, France, Austria, Prussia and 
Russia), without wishing to intervene in the internal affairs of Belgium, 
guarantee her that perpetual neutrahty as well as the integrity and 
inviolability of her territory in the limits mentioned in the present article. 

Article 10. By just reciprocity Belgium shall be held to observe this 
same neutrality toward all the other states and to make no attack on their 
internal or external tranquillity while always preserving the right to 
defend herself against any foreign aggression. 

This agreement was followed on January 23, 1839, by a defini- 
tive treaty, accepted by Belgium and by the Netherlands, which 
treaty regulates Belgium's neutrality as follows: 

Article 7. Belgium, within the Hmits defined in Articles 1, 2 and 4, 
shall form an independent and perpetually neutral state. She is obligated 
to preserve this neutrality against all the other states. 

To convert this solemn covenant into a "scrap of paper'' it 
was necessary that Germany should find an excuse for tearing it 
to pieces. There was absolutely no provocation in sight, but that 
did not deter the German High Command. That august body with 
no information whatever to afford an excuse, alleged in a formal 
note to the Belgian Government that the French army intended 

75 



76 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR 

to invade Germany through Belgian territory. This hypocritical 
and mendacious note and Belgium's vigorous reply follow: 

Note handed in on August 2, 1914, at 7 o'clock p. m., by Herr von 
Below-Saleske, German Minister, to M. Davignon, Belgian Minister for 
Foreign Affairs. 

Brussels, 2d August, 1914. 
Imperial German Legation in Belgium 

(Highly confidential) 

The German Government has received reliable information according 
to which the French forces intend to march on the Meuse, by way of 
Givet and Namur. This information leaves no doubt as to the intention 
of France of marching on Germany through Belgian territory. The Impe- 
rial Government cannot avoid the fear that Belgium, in spite of its best 
will, v/iU be in no position to repulse such a largely developed French 
march without aid. In this fact there is sufficient certainty of a threat 
directed against Germany. 

It is an imperative duty for the preservation of Germany to forestall 
this attack of the enemy. 

The German Government would feel keen regret if Belgium should 
regard as an act of hostiHty against herself the fact that the measures of 
the enemies of Germany oblige her on her part to violate Belgian territory. 

In order to dissipate any misunderstanding the German Government 
declares as follows: 

1. Germany does not contemplate any act of hostility against Bel- 
gium. If Belgium consents in the war about to commence to take up an 
attitude of friendly neutrahty toward Germany, the German Government 
on its part undertakes, on the declaration of peace, to guarantee the 
kingdom and its possessions in their whole extent. 

2. Germany undertakes under the conditions laid down to evacuate 
Belgian territory as soon as peace is concluded. 

3. If Belgium preserves a friendly attitude, Germany is prepared, in 
agreement with the authorities of the Belgian Government, to buy against 
cash all that is required by her troops, and to give indemnity for the 
damages caused in Belgium. 

4. If Belgium behaves in a hostile manner toward the German troops, 
and in particular raises diSiculties against their advance by the opposi- 
tion of the fortifications of the Meuse, or by destroying roads, railways, 
tunnels, or other engineering works, Germany will be compelled to con- 
sider Belgium as an enemy. 

In this case Germany will take no engagements toward Belgium, but 
she will leave the later settlement of relations of the two states toward 
one another to the decision of arms. The German Government has a 
justified hope that this contingency will not arise and that the Belgian 



THE GREAT WAR BEGINS 77 

Government will know how to take suitable measures to hinder its taking 
place. In this case the friendly relations which unite the two neighbor- 
ing states will become closer and more lasting. 

The Reply by Belgium 

Note handed in by M. Davignon, Minister for Foreign Affairs, to 
Herr von Below-Saleske, German Minister. 

Brussels, 3d August, 1914. 
(7 o'clock in the morning.) 

By the note of the 2d August, 1914, the German Government has 
made known that according to certain intelligence the French forces 
intend to march on the Meuse via Givet and Namur and that Belgium., 
in spite of her good-will, would not be able without help to beat off an 
advance of the French troops. 

The German Government felt it to be its duty to forestall this 
attack and to violate Belgian territory. Under these conditions Germany 
proposes to the King's Government to take up a friendly attitude, and 
undertakes at the moment of peace to guarantee the integrity of the king- 
dom and of her possessions in their whole extent. The note adds that if 
Belgium raises difficulties to the forward march of the German troops 
Germany will be compelled to consider her as an enemy and to leave the 
later settlement of the two states toward one another to the decision of 
arms. 

This note caused profound and painful surprise to the King's 
Government. 

The intentions which it attributed to France are in contradiction 
with the express declarations which were made to us on the 1st of August, 
in the name of the government of the repubhc. 

Moreover, if, contrary to our expectation, a violation of Belgian 
neutrality were to be committed by France, Belgium would fulfil all her 
international duties and her army would offer the most vigorous opposition 
to the invader. 

The treaties of 1839, confirmed by the treaties of 1870, establish 
the independence and the neutrahty of Belgium under the guarantee of 
the powers, and particularly of the Government of his Majesty the King 
of Prussia. 

Belgium has always been faithful to her international obligations; 
she has fulfilled her duties in a spirit of loyal impartiahty; she has neglected 
no effort to maintain her neutrality or to make it respected. 

The attempt against her independence with which the German 
Government threatens her would constitute a flagrant violation of 
international law. No strategic interest justifies the violation of that law. 

The Belgian Government would, by accepting the propositions 
which are notified to her, sacrifice the honor of the nation while at the 
same time betraying her duties toward Europe. 



78 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR 

Conscious of the part Belgium has played for more than eighty years 
in the civihzation of the world, she refuses to beUeve that the independence 
of Belgium can be preserved only at the expense of the violation of her 
neutrahty. 

If this hope were disappointed the Belgian Government has firmly 
resolved to repulse by every means in her power any attack upon her 
rights. 

The German attack upon Belgium and France came with 
terrible force and suddenness. Twenty-four army corps, divided 
into three armies clad in a specially designed and colored gray- 
green uniform, swept in three mighty streams over the German 
borders with their objective the heart of France. The Army of 
the Meuse was given the route through Li^ge, Namur and Mau- 
beuge. The Army of the Moselle violated the Duchy of Luxem- 
burg, which, under a treaty guaranteeing its independence and 
neutrality, was not permitted to maintain an army. Germany 
was a signatory party to this treaty also. The Army of the Rhine 
cut through the Vosges Mountains and its route lay between the 
French cities of Nancy and Toul. 

The heroic defense of the Belgian army at Liege against the 
Army of the Meuse delayed the operation of Germany's plans and 
in all probability saved Paris. It was the first of many similar 
disappointments and checks that Germany encountered during 
the war. 

The defense of Li^ge continued for ten heroic days. Within 
that interval the first British Expeditionary Forces were landed in 
France and Belgium, the French army was mobilized to full 
strength. The little Belgian army falling back northward on 
Antwerp, Louvain and Brussels, threatened the German flank and 
approximately 200,000 German soldiers were compelled to remain 
in the conquered section of Belgium to garrison it effectively. 

Liege fortifications were the design of the celebrated strategist 
Brialmont. They consisted of twelve isolated fortresses which had 
been permitted to become out of repair. No field works of any 
kind connected them and they were without provision for defense 
against encircling tactics and against modern artillery. 

The huge 42-centimeter guns, the first of Germany's terrible 
surprises, were brought into action against these forts, and their 
cO^rete and armored steel turrets were cracked as walnuts are 



THE GREAT WAR BEGINS 79 

cracked between the jaws of a nut-cracker. The Army of the 
Meuse then made its way Hke a gray-green cloud of poison gas 
through Belgium. A cavalry screen of crack Uhlan regiments 
preceded it, and it made no halt worthy of note until it confronted 
the Belgian army on the line running from Louvain to Namur. 
The Belgians were forced back before Louvain on August 20th, 
the Belgian Government removed the capital from Bmssels to 
Antwerp, and the German hosts entered evacuated Brussels. 

During this advance of the Army of the Meuse, strong French 
detachments invaded German soil, pouring into Alsace through 
the Belfort Gap. Brief successes attended the bold stroke. Mul- 
hausen was captured and the Metz-Strassburg Raikoad was cut 
in several places. The French suffered a defeat almost immediately 
following tliis first flush of victory, both in Alsace and in Lorraine, 
where a French detachment had engaged with the Army of the 
Moselle. The French army thereupon retreated to the strong hne 
of forts and earthworks defending the border between France and 
Germany. 

England's first expeditionary force landed at Ostend, Calais 
and Dunkirk on August 7th. It was dubbed England's ''con- 
temptible Httle army" by the German General Staff. That name 
was seized upon gladly by England as a spur to volunteering. It 
brought to the surface national pride and a fierce determination 
to compel Germany to recognize and to reckon with the "con- 
temptible little army." 

The contact between the French, Belgian and British forces 
was speedily estabhshed and something like concerted resistance 
to the advance of the enemy was made possible. The German 
army, however, followed by a huge equipment of motor kitchens, 
munition trains, and other motor transport evidencing great care 
in preparation for the movement, swept resistlessly forward until it 
encountered the French and British on a line running from Mons 
to Charleroi. 

The British army was assigned to a position between two 
French armies. By some miscalculation, the French army that 
was to have taken its position on the British left, never appeared. 
The French army on the right was attacked and defeated at 
Charleroi, falUng back in some confuson. The German Army of 
the Moselle co-operating with the Army of the Meuse then attacked 



80 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR 

the British and French, and a great flanking movement by the 
German joint commands developed. 

This was directed mainly at the British under command of 
Sir John French. There followed a retreat that for sheer heroism 
and dogged determination has become one of the great battles of 
all time. The British, outflanked and outnumbered three to one, 
fought and marched without cessation for six days and nights. 
Time after time envelopment and disaster threatened them, but 
with a determination that would not be beaten they fought off 
the best that Germany could send against them, maintained 
contact with the French army on their right, and delayed the 
German advance so effectively that a complete disarrangement of 
all the German plans ensued. This was the second great disap- 
pointment to Germany. It made possible the victory of the 
Mame and the victorious peace of 1918. The story of that 
immortal retreat is best told in the words of Sir John French, 
transmitting the report of this encounter to the British War Office: 

''The transport of the troops from England both by sea and 
by rail was effected in the best order and without a check. Each 
unit arrived at its destination well within the scheduled time. 

"The concentration was practically complete on the evening 
of Friday, the 21st ultimo, and I was able to make dispositions to 
move the force during Saturday, the 22d, to positions I considered 
most favorable from which to commence operations which the 
French commander-in-chief, General Joffre, requested me to under- 
take in pursuance of his plans in prosecution of the campaign. 

''The line taken up extended along the line of the canal from 
Conde on the west, through Mons and Binche on the east. This 
line was taken up as follows : 

"From Cond6 to Mons, inclusive, was assigned to the Second 
Corps, and to the right of the Second Corps from Mons the First 
Corps was posted. The Fifth Cavalry Brigade was placed at 
Binche. 

"In the absence of my Third Army Corps I desired to keep the 
cavalry divisions as much as possible as a reserve to act on my 
outer flank, or move in support of any threatened part of the line. 
The forward reconnoissance was intrusted to Brig.-Gen, Sir Philip 
Chetwode, with the Fifth Cavalry Brigade, but I directed General 
AUenby to send forward a few squadrons to assist in this work. 



THE GREAT WAR BEGINS 81 

"During the 22d and 23d these advanced squadrons did 
some excellent work, some of them penetrating as far as Soignies, 
and several encounters took place in which our troops showed to 
great advantage. 

'^2. At 6 A. M., on August 23d, I assembled the commanders of 
the First and Second Corps and cavalry division at a point close 
to the position and explained the general situation of the Allies, 
and what I understood to be General Joffre's plan. I discussed 
with them at some length the immediate situation in front of us. 

"From information I received from French headquarters I 
understood that little more than one, or at most tv/o, of the enemy's 
army corps, with perhaps one cavalry division, v/ere in front of 
my position; and I was aware of no attempted outflanking move- 
ment by the enemy. I was confirmed in this opinion by the fact 
that my patrols encountered no undue opposition in their recon- 
noitering operations. The observations of my airplanes seemed 
to bear out this estimate. 

"About 3 p. M. on Sunday, the 23d, reports began coming in 
to the effect that the enemy was commencing an attack on the 
Mons line, apparently in some strength, but that the right of the 
position from Mons and Bray was being particularly threatened. 

"The commander of the First Corps had pushed his flank 
back to some high ground south of Bray, and the Fifth Cavalry 
Brigade evacuated Binche, moving slightly south; the enemy 
thereupon occupied Binche. 

^ .. " The right of the Third Division, under General Hamilton, was 
at Mons, which formed a somewhat dangerous salient; and I 
directed the commander of the Second Corps to be careful not to 
keep the troops on this salient too long, but, if threatened seriously, 
to draw back the center behind Mons. This was done before dark. 
In the meantime, about 5 p. m., I received a most unexpected 
message from General Joffre by telegraph, telling me that at least 
three German corps, viz., a reserve corps, the Fourth Corps and 
the Ninth Corps, were moving on my position in front, and that 
the Second Corps was engaged in a turning movement from the 
direction of Tournay. He also informed me that the two reserve 
French divisions and the Fifth French army on my right were 
retiring, the Germans having on the previous day gained possession 
of the passages of the Sambre, between Charleroi and Namur. 



82 HISTORY OF THE WOELD WAR 

"3. In view of the possibility of my being driven from the 
Mons position, I had previously ordered a position in rear to be 
reconnoitered. This position rested on the fortress of Maiibeuge 
on the right and extended west to Jenlain, southest to Valenciennes, 
on the left. The position was reported difficult to hold, because 
standing crops and buildings made the placing of trenches very 
difficult and limited the field of fire in many important localities. 
It nevertheless afforded a few good artillery positions. 

"When the news of the retirement of the French and the 
heavy German threatening on my front reached me, I endeavored 
to confirm it by airplane reconnoissance; and as a result of this I 
determined to effect a retirement to the Maubeuge position at 
daybreak on the 24th. 

"A certain amount of fighting continued along the whole 
line throughout the night and at daybreak on the 24th the Second 
Division from the neighborhood of Harmignies made a powerful 
demonstration as if to retake Binche. This was supported by the 
artillery of both the First and Second Divisions, while the First 
Division took up a supporting position in the neighborhood of 
Peissant. Under cover of this demonstration the Second Corps 
retired on the line Dour-Quarouble-Fram^ries. The Third Division 
on the right of the corps suffered considerable loss in this operation 
from the enemy, who had retaken Mons. 

''The Second Corps halted on this fine, where they partially- 
intrenched themselves, enabfing Sir Douglas Haig with the First 
Corps gradually to withdraw to the new position; and he effected 
this without much further loss, reaching the line Bavai-Maubeuge 
about 7 p. M. Toward midday the enemy appeared to be directing 
his principal effort against our left. 

"I had previously ordered General AUenby with the cavalry to 
act vigorously in advance of my left front and endeavor to take 
the pressure off. 

''About 7.30 A. M. General Allenby received a message from Sir 
Charles Ferguson, commanding the Fifth Division, saying that he 
was very hard pressed and in urgent need of support. On receipt 
of this message General Allenby drew in the cavalry and endeav- 
ored to bring direct support to the Fifth Division. 

" During the course of this operation General De Lisle, of the 
Second Cavalry Brigade, thought he saw a good opportunity to 



THE GREAT WAR BEGINS 83 

paralyze the further advance of the enemy's infantry by making a 
mounted attack on his flank. He formed up and advanced for 
this purpose, but was held up by wire about five hundred yards 
from his objective, and the Ninth Lancers and the Eighteenth 
Hussars suffered severely in the retirement of the brigade. 

"The Nineteenth Infantry Brigade, which had been guarding 
the hue of communications, was brought up by rail to Valenciennes 
on the 22d and 23d. On the morning of the 24th they were 
moved out to a position south of Quarouble to support the left 
flank of the Second Corps. 

"With the assistance of the cavalry Sir Horace Smith-Dorrien 
was enabled to effect his retreat to a new position; although, 
having two corps of the enemy on his front and one threatening 
his flank, he suffered great losses in doing so. 

"At nightfall the position was occupied by the Second Corps 
to the west of Bavai, the First Corps to the right. The right was 
protected by the Fortress of Maubeuge, the left by the Nineteenth 
Brigade in position between Jenlain and Bry, and the cavalry on 
the outer flank. 

"4. The French were still retiring, and I had no support 
except such as was afforded by the Fortress of Maubeuge; and the 
determined attempts of the enemy to get round my left flank 
assured me that it was his intention to hem me against that place 
and surround me. I felt that not a moment must be lost in retiring 
to another position. 

"I had every reason to believe that the enemy's forces were 
somewhat exhausted and I knew that they had suffered heavy 
losses. I hoped, therefore, that his pursuit would not be too 
vigorous to prevent me effecting my object. 

"The operation, however, was full of danger and difficulty, 
not only owing to the very superior force in my front, but also to 
the exhaustion of the troops. 

"The retirement was recommenced in the early morning of 
the 25th to a position in the neighborhood of Le Cateau, and 
rearguards were ordered to be clear of the Maubeuge-Bavai-Eih 
Road by 5.30 a. m. 

"Two cavalry brigades, with the divisional cavalry of the 
Second Corps, covered the movement of the Second Corps. The 
remainder of the cavalry division, with the Nineteenth Brigade, 



84 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR 

the whole under the command of General Allenby, covered the 
west flank. 

' ' The Foui'th Division commenced its detrainment at Le Cateau 
on Sunday, the 23d, and by the morning of the 25th eleven bat- 
talions and a brigade of artillery with divisional staff were available 
for service. 

"I ordered General Snow to move out to take up a position 
with his right south of Solesmes, his left resting on the Cambrai- 
LeCateau Road south of La Chaprie. In this position the division 
rendered great help to the effective retirement of the Second and 
First Corps to the new position. 

"Although the troops had been ordered to occupy the Cambrai- 
Le Cateau-Landrecies position, and the ground had, during the 
25th, been partially prepared and intrenched, I had grave doubts, 
owing to the information I had received as to the accumulating 
strength of the enemy against me — as to the wisdom of standing 
there to fight. 

''Having regard to the continued retirement of the French on 
my right, my exposed left flank, the tendency of the enemy's 
western corps (II) to envelop me, and, more than all, the exhausted 
condition of the troops, I determined to make a great effort to 
continue the retreat until I could put some substantial obstacle, 
such as the Somme or the Oise, between my troops and the enemy, 
and afford the former some opportunity of rest and reorganization. 
Orders were, therefore, sent to the corps commanders to continue 
their retreat as soon as they possibly could toward the general 
line Vermand-St. Quentin-Ribemont. 

"The cavalry under General Allenby, were ordered to cover 
the retirement. 

''Throughout the 25th and far into the evening, the First 
Corps continued its march on Landrecies, following the road 
along the eastern border of the Foret de Mormal, and arrived at 
Landrecies about 10 o'clock. I had intended that the corps should 
come further west so as to fill up the gap between Le Cateau and 
Landrecies, but the men were exhausted and could not get further 
in without rest. 

"The enemy, however, would not allow them this rest, and 
about 9.30 p. m. a report was received that the Fourth Guards 
Brigade in Landrecies was heavily attacked by troops of the Ninth 



THE GREAT WAR BEGINS 85 

German Army Corps, who were coming through the forest on the 
north of the town. This brigade fought most gallantly, and 
caused the enemy to suffer tremendous loss in issuing from the 
forest into the narrow streets of the town. This loss has been 
estimated from rehable sources at from 700 to 1,000. At the same 
time information reached me from Sir Douglas Haig that his 
First Division was also heavily engaged south and east of Maroilles. 
I sent urgent messages to the commander of the two French reserve 
divisions on my right to come up to the assistance of the First 
Corps, which they eventually did. Partly owing to this assistance, 
but mainly to the skilful manner in which Sir Douglas Haig extri- 
cated his corps from an exceptionally difficult position in the 
darkness of the night, they were able at dawn to resume their 
march south toward Wassigny on Guise. 

"By about 6 p. m. the Second Corps had got into position with 
their right on Le Cateau, their left in the neighborhood of Caudry, 
and the line of defense was continued thence by the Fourth Division 
toward Seranvillers, the left being thrown back. 

"During the fighting on the 24th and 25th the cavalry became 
a good deal scattered, but by the early morning of the 26th, General 
AUenby had succeeded in concentrating two brigades to the south 
of Cambrai. 

"The Fourth Division was placed under the orders of the 
general officer commanding the Second Army Corps. 

"On the 24th the French Cavalry Corps, consisting of three 
divisions under General Sordet, had been in billets north of Avesnes. 
On my way back from Bavai, which was my ' Poste de Commande- 
ment' during the fighting of the 23d and 24th, I visited General 
Sordet, and earnestly requested his co-operation and support. 
He promised to obtain sanction from his army commander to act 
on my left flank, but said that his horses were too tired to move 
before the next day. Although he rendered me valuable assistance 
later on in the course of the retirement, he was unable, for the reasons 
given, to afford me any support on the most critical day of all, 
viz., the 26th. 

"At daybreak it became apparent that the enemy was throw- 
ing the bulk of his strength against the left of the position occupied 
by the Second Corps and the Fourth Division. 

"At this time the guns of four German army corps were in 



86 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR 

position against them, and Sir Horace Smith-Dorrien reported to 
me that he judged it impossible to continue his retirement at day- 
break (as ordered) in face of such an attack. 

''I sent him orders to use his utmost endeavors to break off 
the action and retire at the earhest possible moment, as it was 
impossible for me to send him any support, the First Corps being 
at the moment incapable of movement. 

^'The French Cavalry Corps, under General Sordet, was coming 
up on our left rear early in the morning, and I sent an urgent mes- 
sage to him to do his utmost to come up and support the retire- 
ment of my left flank; but owing to the fatigue of his horses he 
found himself unable to intervene in any way. 

''There had been no time to intrench the position properly, 
but the troops showed a magnificent front to the terrible fire which 
confronted them. 

"The artillery, although outmatched by at least four to one, 
made a splendid fight, and inflicted heavy losses on their opponents. 

"At length it became apparent that, if complete annihilation 
was to be avoided, a retirement must be attempted; and the order 
was given to commence it about 3.30 p. m. The movement was 
covered with the most devoted intrepidity and determination by the 
artillery, which had itself suffered heavily, and the fine work done 
by the cavalry in the further retreat from the position assisted 
materially in the final completion of this most difficult and dan- 
gerous operation. 

''Fortunately the enemy had himself suffered too heavily to 
engage in an energetic pursuit. 

"I cannot close the brief account of this glorious stand of the 
British troops without putting on record my deep appreciation of 
the Valuable services rendered by Gen. Sir Horace Smith-Dorrien. 

"I say v/ithout hesitation that the saving of the left wing 
of the army under my command on the morning of the 26th of 
August, could never have been accomplished unless a coromander 
of rare and unusual coolness, intrepidity, and determination had 
been present to personally conduct the operation. 

"The retreat was continued far into the night of the 26th and 
through the 27th and 28th, on which date the troops halted on the 
line Noyon-Chauny-LaFere, having then thrown off the weight of 
the enemy's pursuit. 



THE GREAT WAR BEGINS 87 

"On the 27th and 28th I was much indebted to General Sordet 
and the French Cavaky Division which he commands for materially 
assisting my retirement and successfully driving back some of the 
enemy on Cambrai. 

''This closes the period covering the heavy fighting which 
commenced at Mons on Sunday afternoon, 23d August, and which 
really constituted a four days' battle. 

"It is impossible for me to speak too highly of the sldll 
evinced by the two general officers commanding army corps; the 
self-sacrificing and devoted exertions of their staffs; the direction 
of the troops by divisional, brigade, and regimental leaders; the 
command of the smaller units by their officers; and the magnifi- 
cent fighting spirit displayed by non-commissioned officers and men. 

''I wish particularly to bring to your Lordship's notice the 
admirable work done by the Royal Flying Corps under Sir David 
Henderson. Their skill, energy, and perseverence have been 
beyond all praise. They have furnished me with the most com- 
plete and accurate information, which has been of incalculable 
value in the conduct of the operations. Fired at constantly both 
by friend and foe, and not hesitating to fly in every kind of weather, 
they have remained undaunted throughout. 

''Further, by actually fighting in the air, they have suc- 
ceeded in destroying five of the enemy's machines." 

The combined French and British armies, including the 
forces that had retreated from Alsace and Lorraine, gave way 
with increasing stubborness before von Kluck. That German 
general disregarding the fortresses surrounding Paris, swung 
southward to make a junction with the Army of the Crown Prince 
of Germany advancing through the Vosges Mountains. General 
Manoury's army opposed the German advance on the entrenched 
line of Paris. General Gallieni commanding the garrison of Paris, 
was ready with a novel mobile transport consisting of taxicabs 
and fast trucks. The total number of soldiers in the French and 
British armies now outnumbered those in the German armies 
opposed to them. 

General Joffre, in supreme command of the French, had 
chosen the battleground. He had set the trap with consummate 
skill. The word was given; the trap was sprung; and the first 
battle of the Marne came as a crashing surprise to Germany. 




CHAPTER VI 

The Trail of the Beast in Belgium 

ERMANY'S onrush into heroic Belgium speedily re- 
solved itself into a saturnalia that drenched the land 
with blood and roused the civilized world into resentful 
horror. As the tide of barbarity swept forward into 
Northern France, stories of the horrors filtered through the close 
web of German censorship. There were denials at first by German 
propagandists. In the face of truth furnished by thousands of 
witnesses, the denials faded away. 

What caused these atrocities? Were they the spontaneous 
expression of dormant brutishness in German soldiers? Were 
they a sudden reversion of an entire nation to bestiality? 

The answer is that the private soldier as an individual was 
not responsible. The carnage, the rapine, the wholesale desola- 
tion was an integral part of the German policy of schrecklichkeit 
or frightfulness. This policy was laid down by Germany as part 
of its imperial war code. In 1902 Germany issued a new war 
manual entitled ^'Kriegsbrauch im Landkriege." In it is written 
this cold-blooded declaration: 

All measures which conduce to the attainment of the object of war 
are permissible and these may be summarized in the two ideas of violence 
and cunning. What is permissible includes every means of war without 
which the object of the war cannot be attained. All means which 
modern invention affords, including the fullest, most dangerous, and most 
massive means of destruction, may be utilized. 

Brand Whitlock, United States Minister to Belgium, in a 
formal report to the State Department, made this statement 
concerning Germany's policy in permitting these outrages: 

"All these deliberate organized massacres of civilians, all 
these murders and outrages, the violation of women, the killing of 
children, wanton destruction, burning, looting and pillage, and 
whole towns destroyed, were acts for which no possible military 

88 



THE TRAIL OF THE BEAST IN BELGIUM 91 

necessity can be pleaded. They were wilfully committed as part 
of a deliberately prepared and scientifically organized policy of 
terrorism." 

And now, having considered these outrages as part of the Ger- 
man policy of terrorism, let lis turn to the facts presented by those 
who made investigations at first hand in devastated Belgium and 
Northern France. 

Let us first turn to the tragic story of the destruction of 
Louvain. The first document comes in the form of a cable sent 
from the Belgian Minister of Foreign Affairs under date of 
Augusts, 1914: 

" On Tuesday evening a body of German troops who had 
been driven back retired in disorder upon the town of Louvain. 
Germans who were guarding the town thought that the retiring 
troops were Belgians and fired upon them. In order to excuse 
this mistake the Germans, in spite of the most energetic denials 
on the part of the authorities, pretended that Belgians had fired on 
the Germans, although all the inhabitants, including policemen, 
had been disarmed for more than a week. Without any examina- 
tion and without listening to any protest the commanding officer 
announced that the town would be immediately destroyed. AH 
inhabitants had to leave their homes at once; some were made 
piisoners; women and children were put into a train of which the 
destination was unknown; soldiers with fire bombs set fire to the 
different quarters of the town; the splendid Church of St. Pierre, 
the markets, the university and its scientific establishments, were 
given to the flames, and it is probable that the Hotel de Ville, 
this celebrated jewel of Gothic art, will also have disappeared in 
the disaster. Several notabilities were shot at sight. Thus a 
town of 40,000 inhabitants, which, since the fifteenth century, has 
been the intellectual and scientific capital of the Low Countries 
is a heap of ashes. Americans, many of whom have followed the 
course at this illustrious alma mater and have there received such 
cordial hospitality, cannot remain insensible to this outrage on 
the rights of humanity and civilization which is unprecedented 
in history." 

Minister Whitlock made the following report on the same 
outrage: 

**A violent fusillade broke out simultaneously at various 



92 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR 

points in the city (Louvain), notably at the Porte de Bruxelles, 
Porte de Tirlemont, Rue Leopold, Rue Marie-Therese, Rue des 
Joyeuses Entries. Gennaa soldiers were firing at random in 
every street and in every direction. Later fires broke out every- 
where, notably in the University building, the Library, in the old 
Church of St. Peter, in the Place du Peuple, in the Rue de la Station, 
in the Boulevard de Tirlemont, and in the Chaussee de Tirlemont. 
On the orders of their chiefs, the German soldiers would break 
open the houses and set fire to them, shooting on the inhabitants 
who tried to leave their dwellings. Many persons who took refuge 
in their cellars were burned to death. The German soldiers were 
equipped with apparatus for the purpose of firing dwellings, incen- 
diary pastils, machines for spraying petroleum, etc. . . . 

"Major von Manteuffel (of the German forces) sent for 
Alderman Schmidt. Upon the latter's arrival, the major declared 
that hostages were to be held, as sedition had just broken out. 
He asked Father Parijs, Mr. Schmidt, and Mgr. Coenraedts, 
First Vice-Rector of the University, who was being held as a 
hostage, to make proclamations to the inhabitants exhorting them 
to be calm and menacing them with a fine of twenty million francs, 
the destruction of the city and the hanging of the hostages, if 
they created disturbance. Surrounded by about thirty soldiers 
and a few officers. Major Manteuffel, Father Parijs, Mr. Schmidt 
and Mgr. Coenraedts left in the direction of the station, and the 
alderman, in French, and the priest, in Flemish, made proclama- 
tions at the street comers. . . . 

"Near the statue of Juste-Lipse, a Dr. Berghausen, a German 
surgeon, in a highly excited condition, ran to meet the delegation. 
He shouted that a German soldier had just been killed by a shot 
fired from the house of Mr. David Fishbach. Addressing the 
soldiers. Dr. Berghausen said: 'The blood of the entire population 
of Louvain is not worth a drop of the blood of a German soldier!' 
Then one of the soldiers threw into the interior of the house of 
Mr. Fishbach one of the pastils which the German soldiers car- 
ried and immediately the house flared up. It contained paintings 
of a high value. The old coachman, Joseph Vandermosten, who 
had re-entered the house to try to save the life of his master, 
did not return. His body was found the next day amidst the 
ruins. ... 



THE TRAIL OF THE BEAST IN BELGIUM 93 

''The Germans made the usual claim that the civil popula- 
tion had fired upon them and that it was necessary to take these 
measures, i. e., burn the churches, the library and other public 
monuments, burn and pillage houses, driving out and murdering 
the inhabitants, sacking the city in order to punish and to spread 
terror among the people, and General von Luttwitz had told me 
that it was reported that the son of the burgomaster had shot 
one of their generals. But the burgomaster of Louvain had no 
son, and no officer was shot at Louvain. The story of a general 
shot by the son of a burgomaster was a repetition of a tragedy that 
had occurred at Aerschot, on the 19th, where the fifteen-year-old 
son of the burgomaster had been killed by a firing squad, not 
because he had shot a general, but because an officer had been 
shot, probably by Belgian soldiers retreating through the town. 
The story of this tragedy is told by the boy's mother, under oath, 
before the Belgian Commission, and is so simple, so touching, so 
convincing in its verisimilitude, that I attach a copy of it in 
extenso to this report. It seems to afford an altogether typical 
example of what went on all over the stricken land during those 
days of terror. (In other places it was the daughter of the burgo- 
master who was said to have shot a general.) 

"The following facts may be noted: From the avowal of 
Prussian officers themselves, there was not one single victim, 
among their men at the barracks of St. Martin, Louvain, where 
it was claimed that the first shot had been fired from a house 
situated in front of the Caserne. This would appear to be impossi- 
ble had the civilians fired upon them point blank from across the 
street. It was said that when certain houses near the barracks 
were burning, numerous explosions occurred, revealing the presence 
of cartridges; but these houses were drinking houses much fre- 
quented by German soldiers. It was said that Spanish students 
shot from the schools in the Rue de la Station, but Father Catala, 
rector of the school, affirms that the schools were empty. . . . 

"If it was necessary, for whatever reason, to do what was 
done at Vise, at Dinant, at Aerschot, at Louvain, and in a hundred 
other towns that were sacked, pillaged and burned, where masses 
were shot down because civilians had fired on German troops, 
and if it was necessary to do this on a scale never before witnessed 
in history, one might not unreasonably assume that the alleged 



94 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR 

firing by civilians was done on a scale, if not so thoroughly organized, 
at least somewhat in proportion to the rage of destruction that 
punished it. And hence it would seem to be a simple matter to 
produce at least convincing evidence that civilians had fired on 
the soldiers; but there is no testimony to that effect beyond that 
of the soldiers who merely assert it: Man hat geschossen. If 
there were no more firing on soldiers by civilians in Belgium than 
is proved by the German testimony, it was not enough to justify 
the burning of the smallest of the towns that was overtaken by 
that fate. And there is not a scintilla of evidence of organized 
bands of francs-tireurs, such as were found in the war of 1870." 

Under date of September 12, 1917, Minister Whitlock, in a 
report to the State Department of the United States, made the 
following summary: ''As one studies the evidence at hand, one is 
struck at the outset by the fact so general that it must exclude the 
hypothesis of coincidence, and that is that these wholesale m^assacres 
followed inamediately upon some check, some reverse, that the 
German army had sustained. The German army was checked 
by the guns of the forts to the east of Liege, and the horrors of 
Vise, Verviers, Bligny, Battice, Hervy and twenty villages follow. 
When they entered Liege, they burned the houses along two streets 
and killed many persons, five or six Spaniards among them. 
Checked before Namur they sacked Andenne, Bouvignies, and 
Champignon, and when they took Namur they burned one hundred 
and fifty houses. Compelled to give battle to the French army 
in the Belgian Ardennes they ravaged the beautiful valley of the 
Semois; the complete destruction of the village of Rossignlo and 
the extermination of its entire male population took place there. 
Checked again by the French on the Meuse, the awful carnage of 
Dinant results. Held on the Sambre by the French, they burn 
one hundred houses at Charleroi and enact the appalling tragedy 
of Tamines. At Mons, the Enghsh hold them, and after that all 
over the Borinage there is a systematic destruction, pillage and 
murder. The Belgian army drive them back from Malines and 
Louvain is doomed. The Belgian army falling back and fighting 
in retreat took refuge in the forts of Antwerp, and the burning 
and sack of Hougaerde, Wavre, Ottignies, Grimde, Neerhnter, 
Weert, St. George, Shaffen and Aerschot follow. 

"The Belgian troops inflicted serious losses on the Qerm^Jl^ 




AN OBSERVATION POST 

Watching the effect of gun fire from a sand-bagged ruin near the German hnes. 




Photo by Trans- Atlantic News Service Co. ^ „ ^, -rv-r^-r^ r^ 

KING ALBERT AT THE HEAD OF THE HEROIC SOLDIERS 
OF BELGIUM 

It is universally agreed that the Belgian monarch, was no .fig^^'^hea^ 
general but a real leader of his troops. It was these men, facmg anmhilation, who 
aSshed the world by opposing the German military machme successful y 
SS to aUow France to get herlrmiea into shape and prevent the immediate 
taking of Paris that was planned by Germany. 



THE TRAIL OF THE BEAST IN BELGIUM 97 

in the South of the Province of Limbourg, and the towns of Lummen, 
Bilsen, and Lanaeken are partially destroyed. Antwerp held out 
for two months, and all about its outer line of fortifications there 
was blood and fire, numerous villages were sacked and burned and 
the whole town of Termonde was destroyed. During the battles 
of September the village of Boortmeerbeek near Malines, occupied 
by the Germans, was retaken by the Belgians, and when the Ger- 
mans entered it again they burned forty houses. Three times 
occupied by the Belgians and retaken by the Germans Boortmeer- 
beek was three times punished in the same way. That is to say, 
everywhere the German army met with a defeat it took it out, 
as we say in America, on the civil population. And that is the 
explanation of the German atrocities in Belgium." 

A committee of the highest honor and responsibility was 
appointed by the British Government to investigate the whole 
subject of atrocities in Belgium and Northern France. Its chair- 
man was the Rt. Hon. Viscount James Bryce, formerly British 
Ambassador to the United States. Its other members were the 
Rt. Hon. Sir Frederick Pollock, the Rt. Hon. Sir Edward Clark, 
Sir Alfred Hopkinson, Mr. H. A. L. Fisher, Vice-Chancellor of the 
University of Sheffield, Mr. Harold Cox and Sir Kenelm E. Digby. 

The report of the commission bears upon its face the stamp 
of painstaking search for truth, substantiates every statement 
made by Minister Whitlock and makes known many horrible 
instances of cruelty and barbarity. It makes the following deduc- 
tions as having been proved beyond question : 

1. That there were in many parts of Belgium deliberate and 
systematically organized massacres of the civil population, accom- 
panied by many isolated murders and other outrages. 

2. That in the conduct of the war generally innocent civilians, 
both men and women, were murdered in large numbers, women 
violated, and children murdered. 

3. That looting, house burning, and the wanton destruction 
of property were ordered and countenanced by the officers of the 
German army, that elaborate provision had been made for system- 
atic incendiarism at the very outbreak of the war, and that the 
burnings and destruction were frequent where no military necessity 
could be alleged, being, indeed, part of a system of general terrori- 
zation. 



98 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR 

4. That the rules and usages of war were frequently broken, 
particularly by the using of civihans, including women and children, 
as a shield for advancing forces exposed to fire, to a less degree by 
killing the wounded and prisoners and in the frequent abuse of the 
Red Cross and the white flag. 

The Bryce Commission's report on the destruction of Dinant 
is an example of testimony laid before them. It follows : 

"A clear statement of the outrages at Dinant, which many 
travelers will recall as a singularly picturesque town on the Meuse, 
is given by one witness, who says that the Germans began burning 
houses in the Rue St. Jacques on the 21st of August, and that 
every house in the street was burned. On the following day an 
engagement took place between the French and the Germans, 
and the witness spent the whole day in the cellar of a bank with 
his wife and children. On the morning of the 23d, about 5 o'clock, 
firing ceased, and almost immiediately afterward a party of Germans 
came to the house. They rang the bell and began to batter at 
the door and windows. The witness' wife went to the door and 
two or three Germans came in. The family were ordered out into 
the street. There they found another family, and the two famihes 
were driven with their hands above their heads along the Rue 
Grande. All the houses in the street were burning. 

"The party was eventually put into a forge where there were 
a number of other prisoners, about a hundred in all, and were 
kept there from 11 a. m. till 2 p. m. They were then taken to the 
prison. There they were assembled in a courtyard and searched. 
No arms were found. They were then passed through into the 
prison itself and put into cells. The witness and his wife were 
separated from each other. During the next hour the witness 
heard rifle shots continually and noticed in the corner of a court- 
yard leading off the row of cells the body of a young man with a 
mantle thrown over it. He recognized the mantle as having 
belonged to his wife. The witness' daughter was allowed to go 
out to see what had happened to her mother, and the witness him- 
self was allowed to go across the courtyard half an hour afterward 
for the same purpose. He found his wife lying on the floor in a 
room. She had bullet wounds in four places but was alive and 
told her husband to return to the children and he did so. 

"About 5 o'clock in the evening, he saw the Germans bringing 



THE TRAIL OF THE BEAST IN BELGIUM 99 

out all the young and middle-aged men from the cells, and ranging 
their prisoners, to the number of forty, in three rows m the middle 
of the courtyard. About twenty Germans were drawn up opposite, 
but before anything was done there was a tremendous fusillade 
from some point near the prison and the civiUans were hurried 
back to their cells. Half an hour later the same forty men were 
brought back uito the courtyard. Almost immediately there was 
a second fusillade and they were driven back to the cells again 

''About 7 o'clock the witness and other prisoners were brought 
out of thek ceUs and marched out of the prison. They went between 
two Imes of troops to Roche Bayard, about a kilometer away. 
An hour later the women and children were separated and the 
prisoners were brought back to Dinant passuig the prison on their 
way. Just outside the prison, the witness saw thj-ee Unes of bodies 
which he recognized as being those of his neighbors. They were 
nearly all dead, but he noticed movement in some of them. There 
were about one hundred and twenty bodies. The prisoners were 
then taken up to the top of a hill outside Dinant and compeUed to 
stay there till 8 o'clock in the mormng. On the followmg day they 
were put mto cattle trucks and taken thence to Coblenz. For 
three months they remauied prisoners ui Germany. 

'^ Unarmed civiHans were killed in masses at other places near 
the prison. About ninety bodies were seen lying on the top of one 
another in a ^ass square opposite the convent. A witness asked 
a German officer why her husband had been shot, and he told her 
that it was because two of her sons had been in the cml guard and 
had shot at the Germans. As a matter of fact, one of her sons 
was at that tune in Li^ge and the other in Brussels. It is stated 
that besides the ninety corpses referred to above, sixty corpses ot 
civiHans were recovered from a hole ui the brewery yard and that 
forty-eight bodies of women and children were found m a garden. 
The town was systematicaUy set on fire by hand grenades. Another 
witness saw a Httle gu-l of seven, one of whose legs was broken 
and the other injured by a bayonet. We have no reason to beheve 
that the civihan population of Dinant gave any provocation, or 
that any other defense can be put forward to justify the treatment 
inflicted upon its citizens." 

The Bryce Commission reports the outrages m a number ot 
Belgian villages in this terse fashion: 



100 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR 

"In Hofstade a number of houses had been set on fire and 
many corpses were seen, some in houses, some in back yards, and 
some in the streets. Two witnesses speak of having seen the body 
of a young man pierced by bayonet thrusts with the wrists cut 
also. On a side road the corpse of a civilian was seen on his door- 
step with a bayonet wound in his stomach and by his side the 
dead body of a boy of five or six with his hands nearly severed. 
The corpses of a woman and boy were seen at the blacksmith's. 
They had been killed with the bayonet. In a cafe, a young man, 
also killed with the bayonet, was holding his hands together as if 
in the attitude of supplication. 

"In the garden of a house in the main street, bodies of two 
women were observed, and in another house, the body of a boy 
of sixteen with two bayonet wounds in the chest. In Sempst a 
similar condition of affairs existed. Houses were burning and in 
some of them were the charred remains of civilians. In a bicycle 
shop a witness saw the burned corpse of a man. Other witnesses 
speak of this incident. Another civilian, unarmed, was shot as 
he was running away. As will be remembered, all the arms had 
been given up some time before by the order of the burgomaster. 

"At Weerde fom* corpses of civilians were lying in the road. 
It was said that these men had fired upon the German soldiers; 
but this is denied. The arms had been given up long before. 
Two children were killed in the village of Weerde, quite wantonly 
as they were standing in the road with their mother. They were 
three or four years old and were killed with the bayonet. A small 
barn burning close by formed a convenient means of getting rid 
of bodies. They were thrown into the flames from the bayonets. 
It is right to add that no commissioned officer was present at the 
time. At Eppeghem, on August 25th, a pregnant wom^an who had 
been wounded with a bayonet was discovered in the convent. 
She was dying. On the road six dead bodies of laborers were seen. 

"At Boortmeerbeek a German soldier was seen to fire three 
times at a little girl five years old. Having failed to hit her, he 
subsequently bayoneted her. He was killed with the butt end 
of a rifle by a Belgian soldier who had seen him commit this murder 
from a distance. At Herent the charred body of a civiHan was 
found in a butcher's shop, and in a handcart twenty yards away 
was the dead body of a laborer. Two eye witnesses relate that a 



THE TRAIL OF THE BEAST IN BELGIUM 101 

German soldier shot a civilian and stabbed him with a bayonet 
as he lay. He then made one of these witnesses, a civihan prisoner, 
smell the blood on the bayonet. At Haecht the bodies of ten 
civiHans were seen lying in a row by a brewery wall. In a laborer's 
house, which had been broken up, the mutilated corpse of a woman 
of thirty to thirty-five was discovered." 

Concerning the treatment of women and children in general, 
the report continues: ''The evidence shows that the German 
authorities, when carrying out a policy of systematic arson and 
plunder in selected districts, usually drew some distinction between 
the adult male population on the one hand and the women and 
children on the other. It v/as a frequent practice to set apart the 
adult males of the condemned district with a view to the execution 
of a suitable number — ^preferably of the younger and more vigorous 
— and to reserve the women and children for milder treatment. 
The depositions, however, present many instances of calculated 
cruelty, often going the length of murder, toward the women and 
children of the condemned area. 

"At Dinant sixty women and children were confined in the 
cellar of a convent from Sunday morning till the following Friday, 
August 28th, sleeping on the ground, for there were no beds, with 
nothing to drink during the whole period, and given no food until 
Wednesday, when somebody threw into the cellar two sticks of 
macaroni and a carrot for each prisoner. In other cases the women 
and children were marched for long distances along roads, as, for 
instance, the march of the women from Louvain to Tirlemont, 
August 28th, the laggards pricked on by the attendant Uhlans. 
A lady complains of having been brutally kicked by privates. 
Others were struck at with the butt end of rifles. At Louvain, 
at Liege, at Aerschot, at Malines, at Montigny, at Andenne, and 
elsewhere, there is evidence that the troops were not restrained 
from drunkenness, and drunken soldiers cannot be trusted to 
observe the rules or decencies of war, least of all when they are 
called upon to execute a preordained plan of arson and pillage. 
From the very first women were not safe. At Liege women and 
children were chased about'the streets by soldiers. 

''Witnesses recount how a great crowd of men, women and 
children from Aerschot were marched to Louvain, and then sud- 
denly exposed to a fire from a mitrailleuse and rifles, 'We were 



102 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR 

all placed,' recounts a sufferer, 'in Station Street, Lou vain, and 
the German soldiers fired on us. I saw the corpses of some women 
in the street. I fell down, and a v/oman who had been shot fell 
on top of me.' Women and children suddenly turned out into 
the streets, and, compelled to witness the destruction of their 
homes by fire, provided a sad spectacle to such as were sober enough 
to see. 

"A humane German officer, witnessing the ruin of Aerschot, 
exclaimed in disgust: 'I am a father myself, and I cannot bear this. 
It is not war but butchery.' Officers as well as men succumbed 
to the temptation of drink, with results which may be illustrated 
by an incident which occurred at Campenhout. In this village 
there was a certain well-to-do merchant (name given) who had a 
cellar of good champagne. On the afternoon of the 14th or 15th 
of August three German cavalry oflScers entered the house and 
demanded champagne. Having drunk ten bottles and invited 
five or six officers and three or four private soldiers to join them, 
they continued their carouse, and then called for the master and 
mistress of the house. 

" 'Immediately my mistress came in,' says the valet de cham- 
bre, ' one of the officers who was sitting on the floor got up, and, put- 
ting a revolver to my mistress' temple, shot her dead. The officer 
was obviously drunk. The other officers continued to drink and 
sing, and they did not pay any great attention to the kilhng of my 
mistress. The officer v/ho shot my mistress then told my master 
to dig a grave and bury my mistress. My master and the officer 
went into the garden, the officer threatening my master with a 
pistol. My master was then forced to dig the grave and to bury 
my mistress in it. I cannot say for what reason they killed my 
mistress. The officer who did it was singing all the time.' 

"In the evidence before us there are cases tending to show 
that aggravated crimes against women were sometimes severely 
punished. One witness reports that a young girl who was being 
pursued by a drunken soldier at Louvain appealed to a German 
officer, and that -the offender was then and there shot. Another 
describes how an officer of the Thirty-second Regiment of the Line 
was led out to execution for the violation of two young girls, but 
reprieved at the request or with the consent of the girls' mother. 
These instances are sufficient to show that the maltreatment of 



THE TRAIL OF THE BEAST IN BELGIUM 103 

women was no part of the military scheme of the invaders, however 
much it may appear to have been the inevitable result of the 
system of terror dehberately adopted in certain regions. Indeed, 
so much is avowed. 'I\asked the commander why we had been 
spared/ says a lady in Louvain, who deposes to having suffered 
much brutal treatment during the sack. He said: 'We will not 
hin-t you any more. Stay in Louvain. All is finished.' It was 
Saturday, August 29th, and the reign of terror was over. 

''The Germans used men, women and children of Belgium as 
screens for advancing infantry, as is shown in the following: Out- 
side Fort Fleron, near Liege, men and children were marched in 
front of the Germans to prevent the Belgian soldiers from firing. 
The progress of the Germans through Mons was marked by many 
incidents of tliis character. Thus, on August 22d, half a dozen 
Belgian colhers returning from work were marching in front of 
some German troops who were pursuing the English, and in the 
opinion of the v/itnesses, they must have been placed there inten- 
tionally. An EngUsh officer describes how he caused a barricade 
to be erected in a main thoroughfare leading out of Mons, when 
the Germans, in order to reach a crossroad in the rear, fetched 
civiHans out of the houses on each side of the main road and com- 
pelled them to hold up white flags and act as cover. 

"Another British officer who saw this incident is convinced 
that the Germans were acting deliberately for the purpose of 
protecting themselves from the fire of the British troops. Apart 
from this protection, the Germans could not have advanced, as 
the street was straight and commanded by the British rifle fire 
at a range of 700 or 800 yards. ^ Several British soldiers also speak 
of this incident, and their story is confirmed by a Flemish witness 
in a side street." 

The French Government also appointed a commission, headed 
by M. Georges Payelle. This body made an investigation of 
outrages committed by German officers and soldiers in Northern 
France. Its report showed conditions that outstripped in horror 
the war tactics of savages. It makes the following accusations: 

'Tn Bebais, two English cavalrymen who were surprised and 
wounded in this cormnune were finished off with gunshots by the 
Germans when they were dismounted and when one of them had 
thrown up his hands, showing thus that he was unarmed. 



104 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR 

"In the department of the Marne, as everywhere else, the 
German troops gave themselves up to general pillage, which was 
carried out always under similar conditions and with the complicity 
of their leaders. The Communes of Heiltz-le-Maurupt, Suippes, 
Marfaux, Fromentieres and Esternay suffered especially in this 
way. Everything which the invader could carry off from the 
houses was placed on motor lorries and vehicles. At Suippes, in 
particular, they carried off in this way a quantity of different 
objects, among these sewing machines and toys. A great many 
villages, as well as important country towns, were burned without 
any reason whatever. Without doubt, these crimes were com- 
mitted by order, as German detachments arrived in the neighborhood 
with their torches, their grenades, and their usual outfit for arson. 

"At Marfaux nineteen private houses were burned. Of the 
Commune of Glannes practically nothing remains. At Somme- 
Tourbe the entire village has been destroyed, with the exception 
of the Mairie, the church and two private buildings. At Auve 
nearly the whole town has been destroyed. At Etrepy sixty- 
three families out of seventy are homeless. At Huiron all of the 
houses, with the exception of five have been burned. At Sermaize- 
les-Bains only about forty houses out of 900 remain. At Bignicourt- 
sur-Saultz thirty houses out of thirty-three are in ruins. 

"At Suippes, the big market town which has been practically 
burned out, German soldiers carrying straw and cans of petrol 
have been seen in the streets. While the mayor's house was burn- 
ing, six sentinels with fixed bayonets were under orders to forbid 
anyone to approach and to prevent any help being given. 

"All this destruction by arson, which only represents a small 
proportion of the acts of the same kind in the Department of 
Seine-et-Mame, was accomphshed without the least tendency to 
rebelUon or the smallest act of resistance being recorded against 
the inhabitants of the locahties which are today more or less com- 
pletely destroyed. In some villages the Germans, before setting 
fire to them made one of their soldiers fire a shot from his rifle so 
as to be able to pretend afterward that the civilian population had 
attacked them, an allegation which is all the more absurd since 
at the time when the enemy arrived, the only inhabitants left 
were old men, sick persons, or people absolutely without any means 
of aggression. 



o 






P o 






. CD 



3 CD 
C6 >-i 

i§ 

<^ o 
tr ►-• 

a. 

CD hrl 



m 



B. *^ 
o 



IS 





03 03 

'te "^ 

•si 

nn Qj 

03 



^ OS 

S O S 

03 t> r», 

o ,°° 

ho a 
<3 =2-=i 03 

O -^ eS ^ 
fl 03 ri 

. ^^ 03 ?^ 

fe .a -■3 

-a c o 



•« 03^3 

'O'a el 
a '3 5 

e3 - O 

SsO D 

^«J 

03 ^ 
> . 03 

4J 03 "*^ 

1=1 fl a 

03 H •!-* 
02 03 ^ 

-OS'S 

^ 03 03 

a-e 

03 03^ 

-4-3 03 
03 -*-» 



I 



THE TRAIL OF THE BEAST IN BELGIUM 107 

''Numerous crimes against the person have also been com- 
mitted. In the majority of the communes hostages have been 
taken away; many of them have not returned. At Sermaize- 
les-Bains, the Germans carried off about one hundred and fifty 
people, some of whom were decked out with helmets and coats and 
compelled, thus equipped, to mount guard over the bridges. 

"At Bignicourt-sur-Saultz thirty men and forty-five women 
and children were obliged to leave with a detachment. One of 
the men — a certain Emile Pierre — has not returned nor sent any 
news of himself. At Corfelix, M. Jacqet, who was carried off on 
the 7th of September with eleven of his fellow-citizens, was found 
five hundred meters from the village with a bullet in his head. 

''At Champuis, the cure, his maid-servant, and four other 
inhabitants who were taken away on the same day as the hostages 
of Corfelix had not returned at the time of our visit to the place. 

"At the same place an old man of seventy, named Jacquemin, 
was tied down in his bed by an officer and left in this state without 
food for three days. He died a little time after. At Vert-la- 
Gravelle a farm hand was killed. He was struck on the head with 
a bottle and his chest was run through with a lance. The garde 
champetre Brulefer of le Gault-la-Foret was murdered at Maclau- 
nay, where he had been taken by the Germans. His body was 
fomid with his head shattered and a wound on his chest. 

"At Champguyon, a commune which has been fired, a certain 
Verdier was killed in his father-in-law's house. The latter was 
not present at the execution, but he heard a shot and next day 
an officer said to him, 'Son shot. He is under the ruins.' In 
spite of the search made the body has not been found among them. 
It must have been consumed in the fire. 

"At Sermaize, the roadmaker, Brocard, was placed among a 
number of hostages. Just at the moment when he was being 
arrested with his son, his wife and his daughter-in-law in a state 
of panic rushed to throw themselves into the Saulx. The old man 
was able to free himself for a moment and ran in all haste after 
them and made several attempts to save them, but the Germans 
dragged him away pitilessly, leaving the two wretched women 
struggling in the river. When Brocard and his son were restored to 
hberty, four days afterward, and found the bodies, they discovered 
that their wives had both received bullet wounds in the head. 



108 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR 

''At Triaucourt the Germans gave themselves up to the worst 
excesses. Angered doubtless by the remark which an officer had 
addressed to a soldier, against whom a young girl of nineteen, Mile. 
Helene Proces, had made complaint of on account of the indecent 
treatment to which she had been subjected, they burned the village 
and made a systematic massacre of the inhabitants. They began 
by setting fire to the house of an inoffensive householder, M. 
Jules Gand, and by shooting this unfortunate man as he was leaving 
his house to escape the flames. Then they dispersed among the 
houses in the streets, firing off their rifles on every side. A young 
man, seventeen years, Georges Lecourtier, who tried to escape, was 
shot. M. Alfred Lallemand suffered the same fate. He was pursued 
into the kitchen of his feUow-citizen Tautelier, and murdered 
there, while TauteUer received three bullets in his hand. 

''Fearing, not without reason, for their Uves, MUe. Proces, 
her mother and her grandmother of seventy-one and her old aunt 
of eighty-one, tried to cross the trellis which separates their garden 
from a neighboring property with the help of a ladder. The young 
girl alone was able to reach the other side and to avoid death by 
hiding in the cabbages. As for the other women, they were struck 
down by rifle shots. The village cure collected the brains of the 
aunt on the ground on which they were strewn and had the bodies 
carried into Proces' house. During the following night, the 
Germans played the piano near the bodies. 

"While the carnage raged, the fire rapidly spread and devoured 
thirty-five houses. An old man of seventy and a child of two 
months perished in the flames. M. Igier, who was trying to save 
his cattle, was pursued for 300 meters by soldiers, who fired at him 
ceaselessly. By a miracle this man had the good fortune not to 
be wounded,, but five bullets went through his clothing." 

This summary merely hints at the atrocities that were per- 
petrated. And these are the crimes that France and Belgium will 
remember after inderonities have been paid, after borders have been 
re-estabhshed and after generations shall have past. The horrors 
of blazing villages, of violated womanhood, of mutilated childhood, 
of stark and senseless butcheries, will flash before the minds of 
French and Belgian men and women when Germany's name shall 
be mentioned long after the declaration of peace. 

Schrecklichkeit had its day. It took its bloody toll of the 



THE TRAIL OF THE BEAST IN BELGIUM 109 

fairest and bravest of two gallant nations. It ravaged Poland 
as well and wreaked its fiendish will on wounded soldiers on the 
battle-fields. 

But Schrecklichkeit is dead. Belgium and France have 
shown that murder and rape and arson can not destroy liberty 
nor check the indomitable ambitions of the free peoples of earth. 

The lesson to Germany was taught at a terrible cost to 
humanity, but it was taught in a fashion that nations hereafter 
who shall dream of emulating the Hun will know in advance that 
frightfulness serves no end except to feed the lust for destruction 
that exists only in the most debased and brutish of men. 



CHAPTER VII 

The First Battle . of the Marne 

FRANCE and civilization were saved by Joffre and Foch 
at the first battle of the Marne, in September, 1914. 
Autocracy was destroyed by Foch at the second battle 
of the Marne, in July, 1918. 

This in a nutshell embraces the dramatic opening and closing 
episodes of the World War on the soil of France. Bracketed 
between these two glorious victories were the agonies of martyred 
France, the deaths and Ufe-long cripphngs of milhons of men, the 
up-rooting of arrogant miUtarism, the hberation of captive nations. 

The first battle of the Marne was wholly a French operation. 
The British were close at hand, but had no share in the victory. 
Generals GalUeni and Manoury, acting under instructions from 
Marshal Joffre, were driven by automobile to the headquarters 
of the British commander. Sir John French, in the village of 
Melun. They explained in detail General Joffre's plan of attack 
upon the advancing German army. An lu-gent request was made 
that the British army halt its retreat, face about, and attack the 
two corps of von Kluck's army then confronting the British. 
Simultaneously with this attack General Manoiu'y's forces were 
to fall upon the flank and the rear guard of von Kluck along the 
River Ourcq. This operation was planned for the next day, Sep- 
tember 5th. Sir John French repHed that he could not get his tired 
army in readiness for battle within forty-eight hours. This would 
delay the British attack in all probabiHty until September 7th. 

Joffre's plan of battle, however, would admit of no delay. 
The case was urgent; there was grave danger of a union between 
the great forces headed by the Crown Prince and those under 
von Kluck. He resolved to go ahead without the British, and 
ordered Manoury to strike as had been planned. 

He fixed as an extreme limit for the movement of retreat, which 
was still going on, the line of Bray-sur-Seine, Nogent-sur-Seine, 
Arcis-sur-Aube, Vitry-le-Frangois, and the region to the north of 

110 




© Underwood & UndirwJod, N^ Y . 

GENERAL PERSHING AND MARSHAL JOFFRE 

The Commander-in-Chief of the American Expeditionary Forces chatting with the 
veteran Marshal of France, the hero of the first battle of the Marne. 




MARSHAL FERDINAND FOCH, GENERALISSIMO OF THE ALLIED 
ARMIES IN THE WEST 

No leader could command greater confidence than the brilUant strategist to 
whom was mainly due the great victory of the Marne in the first autumn of the war. 
He also directed the French offensive on the Somme in 1916 and in November, 1917, 
he was chosen as the French representative and subsequently chairman of the 
Central Military Committee appointed to assist the Supreme Allied War Council. 
Marshal Foch was formerly for five years lecturer on strategy and tactics at the 
Ecole de Guerre. At the close of the war he said to the AlHed armies: "You have 
won the greatest battle iu history and saved the most sacred cause — the liberty of 
the world." 



THE FIRST BATTLE OF THE MARNE 113 



Bar-le-Duc. This line might be reached if the troops were compelled 
to go back so far. They would attack before reaching it, as soon 
as there was a possibility of bringing about an offensive disposition, 
permitting the co-operation of the whole of the French forces. 

On September 5 it appeared that this desired situation existed. 

The First German army, carrying audacity to temerity, had 
continued its endeavor to envelop the French left, had crossed the 




The First German Dash for Paris 
Grand Morin, and reached the region of Chauffry, to the south 
of Rebais and of Esternay. It aimed then at cutting Joffre 
off from Paris, in order to begin the investment of the capital. 

The Second army had its head on the line Champaubert, 
Etoges, Bergeres, and Vertus. 

The Third and Fourth armies reached to Chalons-sur-Marne 
and Bussy-le-Repos. The Fifth army was advancing on one side 
and the other from the Argonne as far as Triacourt-les-Islettes and 
Juivecourt. The Sixth and Seventh armies were attacldng more 
to the east. 



114 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR 

The French left army had been able to occupy the Hne Sezanne, 
Villers-St. Georges and Courchamps. This was precisely the dis- 
position which the General-in-Chief had wished to see achieved. 
On the 4th he decided to take advantage of it, and ordered all the 
armies to hold themselves ready. He had taken from his right 
two new army corps, two divisions of infantry, and two divisions 
of cavalry, which were distributed between his left and his center. 

On the evening of the 5th he addressed to all the commanders 
of armies a message ordering them to attack. 

''The hour has come," he wTote, 'Ho advance at all costs, 
and to die where you stand rather than give way." 

If one examines the map, it will be seen that by his inflection 
toward Meaux and Coulommiers General von Kluck was exposing 
his right to the oflfensive action of the French left. This is the 
starting point of the victory of the Marne. 

On the evening of September 5th the French left army had 
reached the front Penchard-Saint-Souflet-Ver. On the 6th and 
7th it continued its attacks vigorously with the Ourcq as objective. 
On the evening of the 7th it was some kilometers from the Ourcq, 
on the front Chambry-Marcilly-Lisieux-Acy-en-Multien. On the 
8th, the Germans, who had in great haste reinforced their right 
by bringing their Second and Fourth army corps back to the 
north, obtained some successes by attacks of extreme violence. 
But in spite of this pressure the French held their ground. In a 
brilliant action they took three standards, and being reinforced 
prepared a new attack for the 10th. At the moment that this 
attack was about to begin the enemy was abeady in retreat toward 
the north. The attack became a pursuit, and on the 12th the 
French established themselves on the Aisne. 

Why did the German forces which were confronting the French, 
and on the evening before attacking so fiu-iously, retreat on the 
morning of the 10th? Because in bringing back on the 6th several 
army corps from the south to the north to face the French left, 
the enemy had exposed his left to the attacks of the noYi rested 
British, who had immediately faced around toward the north, 
and to those of the French armies which v/ere prolonging the EngHsh 
lines to the right. This is what the French command had sought 
to bring about. This is what happened on September 8th and 
allowed the development and rehabilitation which it was to effect. 



THE FIRST BATTLE OF THE MARNE 115 

On the 6th the British army set out from the Hne Rozcy-Lagny 
and that evening reached the southward bank of the Grand Morin. 
On the 7th and 8th it continued its march, and on the 9th had 
debouched to the north of the Mame below Chateau-Thierry — 
the town that was to become famous for the American stand in 1918 
— taking in flank the German forces v^^hich on that day were oppos- 
ing, on the Ourcq, the French left army. Then it was that these 
forces began to retreat, while the British army, going in pursuit 
and capturing seven guns and many prisoners, reached the Aisne 
between Soissons and Longueval. 

The role of the French army, which was operating to the right 
of the British army, was threefold. It had to support the British 
attacking on its left. It had on its right to support the center, 
which, from September 7th, had been subjected to a German attack 
of great violence. Finally, its mission was to tlu-ow back the 
thi'ee active army corps and the reserve corps which faced it. 

On the 7th, it made a leap forward, and on the following days 
reached and crossed the Mame, seizing, after desperate fighting, 
guns, howitzers, mitrailleuses, and a million cartridges. On the 
12th it established itself on the north edge of the Montagne-de- 
Reime in contact with the French center, which for its part had 
just forced the enemy to retreat in. haste. 

The French center consisted of a new army created on 
August 29th and of one of those which at the beginning of the cam- 
paign had been engaged in Belgian Luxemburg. The first had 
retreated, on August 29th to September 5th, from the Aisne to the 
north of the Mame and occupied the general front Sezanne-Mailly. 
The second, more to the east, had drawn back to the south 
of the line Humbauville-Ch^teau-Beauchamp-Bignicourt-Blesmes- 
Maurupt-le-Montoy. 

The enemy, in view of his right being arrested and the defeat 
of his enveloping movement, made a desperate effort from the 7th 
to the 19th to pierce the French center to the west and to the east 
of Fere-Champenoise. On the 8th he succeeded in forcing back 
the right of the new French army, which retired as far as Gouragan- 
9on. On the 9th, at 6 o'clock in the morning, there was a further 
retreat to the south of that village, while on the left the other 
army corps also had to go back to the line Allemant-Connantre. 

Despite this retreat General Foch, commanding the army of 



116 HISTORY OF THE WOELD WAR 

the center, ordered a general offensive for the same day. With the 
Morocco division, whose behavior was heroic, he met a furious 
assault of the Germans on his left toward the marshes of Saint 
Gond. Then, v/ith the divisions which had just victoriously over- 
come the attacks of the enemy to the north of Sezanne, and with 
the whole of iiis left army corps, he made a flanking attack in the 
evening of the 9th upon the German forces, and notably the guard, 
which had thrown back his right army corps. The enemy, taken 
by surprise by this bold maneuver, did not resist, and beat a hasty 
retreat. This marked Foch as the most daring and brilliant 
strategist of the war. 

On the 11th the French crossed the Marne between Tours~sur- 
Marne and Sarry, driving the Germans in front of them in dis- 
order. On the 12th they were in contact with the enemy to the 
north of the Camp de Chalons. The reserve army of the center, 
acting on the right of the one just referred to, had been intrusted 
with the mission during the 7th, 8th, and 9th of disengaging its 
neighbor, and it was only on the 10th that being reinforced by an 
army corps from the east, it was able to make its action effectively 
felt. On the 11th the Germans retired. But, perceiving their 
danger, they fought desperately, with enormous expenditure of 
projectiles, behind strong intrenchments. On the 12th the result 
had none the less been attained, and the two French center armies 
were sohdly established on the ground gained. 

To the right of these two armies were three others. They 
had orders to cover themselves to the north and to debouch toward 
the west on the flank of the enemy, wliich was operating to the 
west of the Argonne. But a wide interval in which the Germans 
v/ere in force separated them from the French center. The attack 
took place, nevertheless, with very brilliant success for the French 
artillery, which destroyed eleven batteries of the Sixteenth German 
army corps. 

On the 10th inst., the Eighth and Fifteenth German army 
corps counter-attacked, but were repulsed. On the 11th French 
progress continued with new successes, and on the 12th the French 
were able to face round toward the north in expectation of the 
near and inevitable retreat of the enemy, which, in fact, took 
place from the 13th. 

The withdrawal of the mass of the German force involved 



THE FIRST BATTLE OF THE MARNE 117 

also that of the left. From the 12th onward the forces of the 
enemy operating between Nancy and the Vosges retreated in a 
hurry before the two French armies of the East, which immediately 
occupied the positions that the enemy had evacuated. The 
offensive of the French right had thus prepared and consolidated 
in the most useful way the result secured by the left and center. 

Such was this seven days' battle, in which more than two 
millions of men were engaged. Each army gained ground step by 
step, opening the road to its neighbor, supported at once by it, 
taking in flank the adversary which the day before it had attacked 
in front, the efforts of one articulating closely with those of the 
other, a perfect unity of intention and method animating the 
supreme command. 

To give this victory all its meaning it is necessary to add that 
it was gained by troops which for two weeks had been retreating, 
and which, when the order for the offensive was given, were found 
to be as ardent as on the first day. It has also to be said that these 
troops had to meet the whole Germany army. Under their pres- 
sure the German retreat at certain times had the appearance of a 
rout. 

In spite of the fatigue of the poilus, in spite of the power of 
the German heavy artillery, the French took colors, guns, mitrail- 
leuses, shells, and thousands of prisoners. One German corps 
lost almost the whole of its artillery. 

In that great battle the spectacular rush of General Gallieni's 
army defending Paris, was one of the dramatic surprises that decided 
the issue. In that stroke Galheni sent his entire force forty miles 
to attack the right wing of the German army. In this gigantic 
maneuver every motor car in Paris was utilized, and the flying 
force of GaUieni became the ''Army in Taxicabs," a name that will 
live as long as France exists. 

General Clergerie, Chief of Staff to Galheni told the story for 
posterity. He said : 

''From August 26, 1914, the German armies had been descend- 
ing upon Paris by forced marches. On September 1st they were 
only three days' march from the advanced line of the intrenched 
camp, which the garrison were laboring desperately to put into 
condition for defense. It was necessary to cover with trenches a 
circuit of 110 miles, install siege guns, assure the coming of sup- 



118 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR 

plies for them over narrow-gauge railways, assemble the food and 
provisions of aU kinds necessary for a city of 4,000,000 inhabitants. 

"But on September 3d, the intelhgence service, which was 
working perfectly, stated, about the middle of the day, that the 
German columns, after heading straight for Paris, were swerving 
toward the southeast and seemed to wish to avoid the fortified 
camp. 

''General GaUieni and I then had one of those long conferences 
which denoted grave events; they usually lasted from two to five 
minutes at most. The fact is that the military government of 
Paris did Httle talking— it acted. The conference reached this 
conclusion : ' If they do not come to us, we will go to them with all 
the force we can muster.' Nothing remained but to make the 
necessary preparations. The first thing to do was not to give the 
alarm to the enemy. General Manoury's army immediately 
received orders to He low and avoid any engagement that was not 
absolutely necessary." Then care was taken to reinforce it by 
every means. All was ready at the designated time. 

In the night of September 3d, knowing that the enemy would 
have to leave only a rear guard on one bank of the Ourcq, General 
Gallieni and General Clergerie decided to march against that 
rear guard, to drive it back with all the weight of the Manoury 
army, to cut the enemy's communications, and take full advantage 
of his hazardous situation. Immediately the following order was 
addressed to General Manoury: 

Because of the movement of the German armies, which seem to be 
slipping in before our front to the southeast, I intend to send your army 
to attack them in the flank, that is to say, in an easterly direction. I will 
indicate your line of march as soon as I learn that of the British army. 
But make your arrangements now so that your troops shall be ready to 
march this afternoon and to begin a general movement east of the 
intrenched camp tomorrow. 

At ten in the morning a consultation was held by Generals 
Gallieni, Clergerie, and Manoury, and the details of the plan of 
operations were immediately decided. General Joffre gave per- 
mission to attack and announced that he would himself take the 
offensive on the 6th. On the 5th, at noon, the army from Paris 
fired the first shot; the battle of the Oiurcq, a preface to the Marne, 
had begun. 



THE FIRST BATTLE OF THE MARNE 119 

General Clergerie then told what a precious purveyor of infor- 
mation he had found in General von der Marwitz, cavalry com- 
mander of the German first army, who made intemperate use 
of the wkeless telegraph and did not even take the trouble to put 
into cipher his dispatches, of which the Eiffel Tower made a careful 
collection. "In the evening of September 9th," he said, ''an 
officer of the intelhgence corps brought me a dispatch from this 
same Marwitz couched in something hke these terms: 'Tell me 
exactly where you are and what you are doing. Hurry up, because 
XXX.' The officer was greatly embarrassed to interpret those 
three X's. Adopting the language of the poilu, I said to him, 
'Translate it, 'T am going to bolt." ' True enough, next day we 
found on the site of the German batteries, which had been pre- 
cipitately evacuated, stacks of munitions; while by the roadside 
we came upon motors abandoned for the sHghtest breakdown, and 
near Betz almost the entire outfit of a field bakery, with a great 
store of flour and dough half-kneaded. Paris and France were 
saved. 

"Von Kluck could not get over his astonishment. He has 
tried to explain it by saying he was unlucky, for out of a hundred 
governors not one would have acted as Galheni did, throwing his 
whole available force nearly forty miles from his stronghold. It 
was downright imprudence." 




CHAPTER VIII 

Japan in the War 

N AUGUST 15, 1914, the Empire of Japan issued an 
ultimatum to Germany. She demanded the evacuation 
of Tsing-tau, the disarming of the warships there and 
the handing over of the territory to Japan for ultimate 
reversion to China. The time limit for her reply was set at 
12 o'clock, August 24th. To this ultimatum Germany m.ade no 
reply, and at 2.30 p. m., August 23d, the German Ambassador 
was handed his passports and war was declared. 

The reason for the action of Japan was simple. She was bound 
by treaty to Great Britain to come to her aid in any war in which 
Great Britain might be involved. On August 4th a note was 
received from Great Britain requesting Japan to safeguard British 
shipping in the Far East. Japan replied that she could not guarantee 
the safety of British shipping so long as Germany was in occupation 
of the Chinese province of Tsing-tau. She suggested in turn that 
England agree to allow her to remove this German menace. The 
British Government agreed, on the condition that Tsing-tau be 
subsequently returned to China. 

The Japanese Government in taking this stand was acting 
with courage and with loyalty. Toward individual Germans she 
entertained no animosity. She had the highest respect for German 
scholarship and German mihtary science. She had been sending 
her young men to German seats of learning, and had based the 
reorganization of her army upon the German military system. But 
she did not beheve that a treaty was a mere ''scrap of paper," 
and was determined to fulfil her obhgations in the treaty with 
England. 

It seems to have been the opinion of the highest Japanese 
military authorities that Germany would win the war. Japan's 
statesmen, however, believed that Germany was a menace to both 
China and Japan and had lively recollections of her unfriendly 
attitude in connection with the Chino-Japanese war and in the period 

120 



JAPAN IN THE WAR 121 

that followed. Germany had been playing the same game in China 
that she had played in the Mediterranean and which had ultimately 
brought about the war. 

The Chino-Japanese war had been a^great Japanese triumph. 
One of Japan's greatest victories had been the capture of Port 
Arthur, but the joy caused in Japan had not ended before it was 
turned into mourning because of German interference. Germany 
had then compelled Japan to quit Port Arthur, and to hand over 
that great fort to Russia so that she herself might take Kiao-chau 
without Russia's objection. 

Japan had never forgotten or forgiven. The German seizure 
of Kiao-chau had led to the Russian occupation of Port Arthur, 
the British occupation of Wei-hai-wei and French occupation of 
Kwan-chow Bay. The vultures were swooping down on defenseless 
China. This had led to the Boxer disturbance of 1910, where 
again the Kaiser had interfered. 

Japan, who recognized that her interests and safety were 
closely alUed with the preservation of the territorial integrity of 
China, had proposed to the powers that she be permitted to send 
her troops to the rescue of the beleaguered foreigners, but this 
proposition was refused on account of German suspicion of Japan's 
motives. Later on, during the Russo-Japanese war, Russia was 
assisted in many ways by the German Government. 

Furthermore, the popular sympathy with the Japanese was 
strongly with the Allies. It was the Kaiser who started the cry 
of the "yellow peril," which had deeply hurt Japanese pride. Yet, 
even with this strong feeling, it was remarkable that Japan was 
willing to ally herseK with Russia. She knew very well that after 
all the greatest danger to her liberties lay across the Japan Sea. 
Russian autocracy, with its militarism, its religious intolerance, its 
discriminating policy against foreign interests in commerce and 
trade, was the natural opponent of liberal Japan. 

The immediate object of Japan in joining hands with England 
was to destroy the German menace in the Pacific. Before she 
delivered her ultimatum the Germans had been active; ignoring 
the rights of Japan while she was still neutral they had captured 
a Russian steamer within Japanese jurisdiction, as'well as a number 
.of British merchant vessels, and even a few Japanese ships had 
been intercepted by German cruisers. This was the disturbance 



122 , HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR 

to general peace in the Far East, which had prompted England to 
request Japan's assistance. 

Japan, when she entered the war, was at least twice as strong 
as when she began the war with Russia. She had an army of one 
miUion men, and a navy double the size of that which she had 
possessed when the Treaty of Portsmouth was signed. As soon as 
war was declared she proceeded to act. A portion of her fleet was 
directed against the German forces in the Pacific, one squadron 
occupying Jaluit, the seat of government of the Marshall Islands, 
on October 3d, but her main forces were directed against the fortress 
of Tsing-tau. 

The Germans had taken great pride in Tsing-tau, and had 
made every effort to make it a model colony as well as an impregna- 
ble fortress. They had built costly water works, fine streets and 
fine pubHc buildings. They had been making great preparations 
for a state of siege, although it was not expected that they would be 
able to hold out for a long time. There were hardly more than 
five thousand soldiers in the fortress, and in the harbor but four 
small gunboats and an Austrian cruiser, the Kaiserin Elizabeth. 
As Austria was not at war with Japan the authorization of Japan 
was asked for the removal of the Kaiserin EHzabeth to Shanghai, 
where she could be interned. The Japanese were favorable to this 
proposition, but at the last moment instructions arrived from Vienna 
directing the Austro-Hungarian Ambassador to ask for his pass- 
ports at Tokio and the commander of the Kaiserin Elizabeth to 
assist the Germans in the defense of Tsing-tau. The Germans also 
received orders to defend their fortress to the very last. A portion of 
the German squadron, under Admiral von Spee, had sailed away 
before the Japanese attack, one of these being the famous commerce 
raider, the Emden. 

On the 27th of August the Japanese made their first move by 
taking possession of some of the small islands at the mouth of the 
harbor of Kiao-chau. From these points as bases they swept the 
surrounding waters for mines, with such success that during the 
whole siege but one vessel of their fleet was injured by a mine. 
On the 2d of September they landed troops at the northern base of 
the peninsula upon which Tsing-tau was situated, with the object 
of cutting off the fortress from the mainland. 

The heavy rains which were customary at that season prevented 



JAPAN IN THE WAR 



123 



•f^'t-i 



much action, but airplanes were sent which dropped bombs upon 
the wireless station, electric power station and railway station of 
Kiao-chau, and upon the sliips in the harbor. On September 13th 
General Kamio captured the railway station of Kiao-chau which 
stands at the head of the bay. This placed him twenty-two miles 
from Tsing-tau itself. On September 27th he captured Prince 
Heinrich Hill giving him a gun position from which he could attack 
the inner forts. On the 23d a small British force arrived from 
Wei-hai-wei to co-operate with the Japanese. 




The German Gibraltar in the Far East Which Fell to the Japanese 

The combined forces then advanced until they were only five 
miles from Tsing-tau. The German warships were bombarding 
the Japanese troops fiercely, and were being replied to by the 
Japanese squadron in the mouth of the harbor. The great waste 
of German ammunition led General Kamio to the opinion that the 



124 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR 

Germans did not contemplate a long siege. He then determined 
on a vigorous assault. 

Before the attack was made he gave the non-combatants an 
opportunity of leaving, and on the 15th of October a number of 
women and children and Chinese were allowed to pass through the 
Japanese lines. On October 31st the bombardment began, and the 
German forts were gradually silenced. On November 2d the 
Kaiserin Elizabeth was sunk in the harbor. 

The Alhed armies were pushing their way steadily down, until, 
on November 6th, their trenches were along the edge of the last 
German redoubts. At 6 o'clock on that day white flags were 
floatuig over the central forts and by 7.30 Admiral Waldeck, the 
German Governor, had signed the terms of capitulation. 

Germany's prize colony on the continent of Asia had dis- 
appeared. The survivors, numberiiig about three thousand, were 
sent to Japan as prisoners of war. Japanese losses were but two 
hundred and thirty-six men killed. They had, however, lost one 
third-class cruiser, the Takachiho, and several smaller crafts. 
The whole expedition was a notable success. It had occupied much 
less time than either Japan or Germany had expected, and the news 
was received in Germany with a universal feehng of bitterness and 
chagrin. 

After the Japanese capture of Kiao-chau Japan's assistance to 
the Alhes, while not spectacular, was extremely important, and its 
importance increased during the last two years of the war. Her 
cruiser squadrons did continuous patrol duty in the Pacific and in 
the China Sea and even in the Indian Ocean. She occupied three 
groups of German Islands in the South Sea, assisted in driving 
German raiders from the Pacific, and by her efficiency permitted 
a withdrawal of British warships to points where they could be 
useful nearer home. She patrolled the Pacific coast of North and 
South America, landed marines to quell riots at Singapore, 
and finally entered into active service in European waters by send- 
ing a destroyer squadron to the assistance of the AUies in the 
Mediterranean. 

But while the aid of Japan's navy was important to the Alhes, 
her greatest assistance to the Allied cause was what she did in 
supplying Russia with military supplies. The tremendous struggle 
carried on by Russia's forces during the first years prevented an 



JAPAN IN THE WAR 125 

easy German victory, and was only made possible through the 
assistance of Japan. Enormous quantities of guns, ammunition, 
miUtary stores, hospital and Red Cross suppHes, were sent into 
Russia, with skilled officers and experts to accompany them. 
In the last year of the war Japan once more came prominently 
in the pubHc eye in connection with the effort made by the AUies 
to protect from the Russian Bolsheviki vast stores of ammunition 
which had been landed in ports of Eastern Siberia. She was com- 
pelled to land troops to do this and to preserve order in localities 
where her citizens were in danger. Upon the development of the 
Czecho-Slovak movement in Eastern Siberia a Japanese force, in 
association with troops from the United States and Great Britain, 
was landed to protect the Czecho-Slovaks from Bolsheviki treachery. 
These troops succeeded in their object, and throughout the latter 
period of the war kept Eastern Siberia friendly to the Alhed cause. 
In this campaign there was but httle blood shed. The expedition 
was followed by the strong sympathy of the allied world which was 
full of admiration for the loyalty and courage of the Czecho- 
slovaks and their heroic leaders. 



CHAPTER IX 

Campaign in the East 

LONG before the declaration of war the German military experts 
had made their plans. They recognized that in case of 
^ war with Russia, France would come to the rescue of its 
ally. They hoped that Italy, and felt sure that England, 
would remain neutral, but, no doubt, had provided for the possi- 
bility that these two nations would join the ranks of their foes. 
They recognized that they would be compelled to fight against 
greatly superior numbers, but they had this advantage, that they 
were prepared to move at once, while England was unprepared, 
and Russia, with enormous numbers, was so unprovided with rail- 
road facilities that it would take weeks before her armies would be 
dangerous. 

Their plan of campaign, then, was obvious. Leaving in the 
east only such forces as were necessary for a strong defense, they 
would throw the bullc of their strength against the French. They 
anticipated an easy march to Paris, and then with France at their 
mercy they would gather together all their powers and deal with 
Russia. But they had underestimated both the French power of 
resistance, and the Russian weakness, and in particular they had 
not counted upon the check that they were to meet with in gallant 
Belgium. 

The Russian mobilization was quicker by far than had been 
anticipated. Her armies were soon engaged with the compara- 
tively small German forces, and met with great success. 

To understand the Russian campaign one must have some 
knowledge of the geography of western Russia. Russian Poland 
projects as a great quadrilateral into eastern Germany. It is 
bounded on the north by East Prussia, on the south by GaUcia, 
and the western part reaches deep into Germany itself. The 
land is a broad, level plain, through which from south to north 
runs the River Vistula. In the center lies the capital, Warsaw, 
protected by a group of fortresses. The Russian army, therefore, 

126 



:^ CAMPAIGN IN THE EAST 127 

could not make a direct western advance until it had protected 
its flanks by the conquest of East Prussia on the north, and GaHcia 
on the south. 

By the beginning of the third week in August the first Russian 
armies were ready. Her forces were arranged as follows: Facing 
East Prussia was the Army of the Niemen, four corps strong; the 
Army of Poland, consisting of fifteen army corps, occupied a wide 
front from Narev on the north to the Bug Valley; a third army, 
the Army of Galicia, directed its line of advance southward into 
the country between Lemberg and the Piver Sareth. The fortresses 
protecting Warsaw, still further to the east, were well garrisoned, 
and in front of them to the west were troops intended to delay any 
German advance from Posen. The Russian commander-in-chief 
was the Grand Duke Nicholas, uncle of the late Czar, and one of 
the most admirable representatives of the Russian at his best; 
a splendid soldier, honest, straightforward, and patriotic, he was 
the idol of his men. He had with him a brilHant staff, but the 
strength of his army lay in its experience. They had learned war 
in the bitter school of the Manchurian campaign. 

The German force on the frontier was not less than five hundred 
thousand men, and they were arranged for defense. Austria, in 
Galicia, had gathered nearly one milHon men under the auspices of 
Frederick. The first movement of these armies took place in East 
Prussia. The Army of the Niemen had completed its mobihzation 
early in August, and was under the command of General Rennen- 
kampf, one of the Russian leaders in Manchuria. In command of 
the German forces was General von Frangois, an officer of Huguenot 
descent. 

The first clash of these armies took place on the German 
frontier near Libau, on August 3d. Two days later, the Russians 
crossed the frontier, drove in the German advance posts, and seized 
the railway which runs south and east of the Masurian Lakes. 
The German force fell back, burning villages and destroying roads, 
according to their usual plan. On the 7th of August the main 
army of Rennenkampf crossed the border at Suwalki, advancing 
in two main bodies: the Army of the Niemen moving north from 
Suwalki, the Army of the Narev marching through the region of the 
Masurian Lakes. In the lake district they advanced toward Boyen, 
and then directed their march toward Insterburg. 



128 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR 

To protect Insterburg, General von Francois made his first 
stand at Gumbinnen, where, on the 16th of August, the first impor- 
tant battle of this campaign took place. The result was the defeat 
and retirement of the Germans, and von Frangois was forced to 
fall back on Koenigsberg. 

Meantime, the Army of the Narev, under General Samsonov, 
was advancing through the country west of the Masirrian Lakes. 
On the 20th his vanguard came upon a German army corps, strongly 
entrenched at the northwest end of the lakes. The Germans were 
defeated, and fled in great disorder toward Koenigsberg, abandoning 
their guns and wagons. Many prisoners were taken, and the 
Russians found themselves masters of all of East Prussia except 
that inside the Koenigsberg line. They then marched on Koenigs- 
berg, and East Prussia was for a moment at the mercy of the 
conqueror. 

Troops were left to invest Koenigsberg, and East Prussia was 
overrun with the enemy. The report as to the behavior of these 
troops met with great indignation in Germany; but better informa- 
tion insists that they behaved with decorum and discretion. The 
peasantry of East Prussia, remembering wild tales of the Cossacks 
of a hundred years before, fled in confusion with stories of burning 
and slaughter and outrage. 

Germany became aroused. To thoroughly understand the 
effect of the Russian invasion of East Prussia, one must know some- 
thing of the relations of that district with the German Empire. 
Historically, this was the cradle of the Prussian aristocracy, whose 
dangerous poHcies had alarmed Europe for so many decades. 
The Prussian aristocracy originated in a mixture of certain west 
German and Christian knights, with a pagan population of the 
eastern Baltic plain. The district was separate from Poland and 
never fell under the PoHsh influence. It was held by the Teutonic 
knights who conquered it in a sort of savage independence. The 
Christian faith, which the Teutonic knights professed to inculcate, 
took little root, but such civilization as Germany itself had absorbed 
did filter in. The chief noble of Borussia, the governing Duke, 
acquired in time the title of King, and it was here, not in Berlin, 
nor in Brandenburg, that the Hohenzollern power originated. 

East Prussia, therefore, had a sentimental importance in 
the eyes of the Prussian nobility. The Prussian Royal House, 



-3 o 

^ ^«' 
crcD £j; 



Kg: W 

^ CD fC >Tj 



PI- "^^ 
^P= o 



P erg W 

CTco < H 
ffi K CB 
„ P^ '^ 

OD o m 
t3 P 00 

fD CB j^ 
►2.fD 

< p 

o 

S.^ a- 
a^ 5; 

GO . p 
IX 

1-1 2 



<rt- p 




CAMPAIGN IN THE EAST 



131 




THE EASTERN FIGHTING ZONE. 



132 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR 

in particular, had toward this country an especial regard. More- 
over, it was regarded by the Germans as a whole as their rampart 
against the Slav, a proof of the German power to withstand the 
dreaded Russian. That this sacred soil should now be in the hands 
of a Cossack army was not to be borne. The Kaiser acted at once. 

Large forces were detached from the west and sent to the aid 
of the eastern army. A new commander was appointed. He was 
General von Hindenburg, a veteran of the Franco-Prussian War 
who had been for some years retired. After his retirement he 
devoted his time to the study of East Prussia, especially the ground 
around the Masurian Lakes. He became more famihar with its 
roads, its fields, its marshes, its bogs than any of the peasants who 
spent their lives in the neighborhood of the lakes. Before his 
retirement, in the annual maneuvers, he had often rehearsed his 
defense against Russian invaders. Indeed report, perhaps 
imfounded, described his retirement to the displeasure of the 
Emperor WilUam at being badly worsted in one of these mimic 
combats. He had prevented the country from being cleared and 
the swamps from being drained, arguing that they were worth 
more to Germany than a dozen fortresses. A man of rugged 
strength, his face suggesting power and tenacity, he was to become 
the idol of the German people. 

His chance had come. His army consisted of renmants of the 
forces of von Francois and large reinforcements sent him from the 
west. In all, perhaps, he had with him 150,000 men, and he had 
behind him an admirable system of strategic railways. 

The Russian High Command was full of confidence. Rennen- 
kampf had advanced with the Army of the Niemen toward 
Koenigsberg, whose fall was reported from time to time, without 
foundation. Koenigsberg was in fact impregnable to armies no 
stronger than those under Rennenkampf's command. Samsonov 
with the Army of the Narev, had pushed on to the northeastern 
point of the lakes, and defeated the German army corps at 
Frankenau. Misled by his success, he decided to continue his 
advance through the lake region toward Allenstein. He marched 
first toward Osterode, in the wilderness of forest, lake and marsh, 
between Allenstein and the Lower Vistula. His force numbered 
200,000 men, but the swamps made it impossible to proceed in mass. 
His column had to be temporarily divided, nor was he well informed 



CAMPAIGN IN THE EAST 13S 

as to the strength of his enemy. On Wednesday, the 26th &i 
August) his advance guards were everywhere driven in^ As h@ 
pushed on he discovered the enemy in great numbers, aii4 late^ 
in the day reaHzed that he was facing a great army. I 

Von Hindenburg had taken a position astride the railway from 
AUenstein to Soldau, and all access to his front was barred by 
lakes and swamps. He was safe from frontal attack, and could 
reinforce each wing at pleasiire. From his right ran the only two 
good roads in the region, and at his left was the Osterode railway. 
On the first day he stood on the defensive, while the Russians, 
confident of victory, attacked again and again. Some ground was 
won and prisoners captured, and the news of a second victory was 
sent to western Europe. n'^:^^^'*^^^^^- ■ ■■^'^F-^p^'^-.t 

The battle continued, however, until the last day of August 
and is known as the battle of Tannenberg, from a village of that 
name near the marshes. Having worn down his enemy, von 
Hindenburg counter-attacked. His first movement was on his 
right. This not only deceived Samsonov and led him to reinforce 
his left, but also enabled von Hindenburg to seize the only good 
road that would give the Russian army a chance of retreat. MeaU'^ 
while the German general was hurrying masses of troops noithf 
eastward to outflank the Russian right. While the Russians were' 
reinforcing one flank, he was concentrating every man he could 
upon the other. Then his left swept southward, driving in and 
enveloping the Russian right, and Samsonov was driven into a 
country full of swamps and almost without roads. -^^ 
i- To thoroughly understand the plight of the Russian army 
one must have some idea of the character of the Masurian Lake 
district. It was probably molded by the work of ice in the past. 
Great glaciers, in their progress toward the sea, have ground out 
hundreds of hollows, where are found small pools and consider-' 
able lakes. From these glaciers have been dropped patches of 
clay which hold the waters in wide extents of marsh and bog. ' 
The country presents a monotonous picture of low, rounded swells 
and flats, interspersed with stunted pine and birch woods. The 
marshes and the lakes form a labyrinth, difficult to pass even to 
those familiar with the country. The Masurian region is a great 
trap for any connnander who has not had unlimited acquaintance 
with the place. Causeways, filled v/ith great care, and railroads 



134 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR 

permit an orderly advance, but in a confused retreat disaster at 
once threatens. 

This was the ground that von Hindenburg knew so well. 
The Russians resisted desperately, but their position could not 
be held. Disaster awaited them. They found their guns sinking 
to the axle-trees in mire. Whole regiments were driven into the 
lakes and drowned. On the last day of battle, August 31st, Sam- 
sonov himseK was killed, and his army completely destroyed. 
Fifty thousand prisoners were taken with hundreds of guns and 
quantities of suppHes. Von Hindenburg had attained the triumph 
of which he had so long dreamed. 

It was an immensely successful example of that enveloping 
movement characteristic of German warfare, a victory recalling 
the battle of Sedan, and it- was upon a scale not inferior to that 
battle. 

The news of this great triumph reached Berlin upon the anniver- 
sary of the battle of Sedan, and on the same day that the news came 
from the west that von Kluck had reached the gates of Paris and it 
had a profound effect upon the German mind. They had grown to 
beUeve that the Germans were a sort of superman; these wonderful 
successes confirmed them in this behef. 

No longer did they talk of a mere defense in the east; an 
advance on Warsaw was demanded and von Hindenburg was 
acclaimed the greatest soldier of his day. The Emperor made him 
Field Marshal, and placed him in command of the Teutonic armies 
ia the east. 

But von Hindenburg was not satisfied. The remnant of the 
defeated army had fled toward Narev, and without losing a moment 
von Hindenburg set off in piursuit. Rennenkampf, all this time, 
strange to say, had made no move, and at the news of Samsonov's 
disaster he abandoned the siege of Koenigsberg and retreated toward 
the Niemen. At Gumbinnen he fought a rear-guard action with 
the German left, but had made up his mind that the Niemen must 
be the Russian Hne of defense. Von Hindenburg, following, crossed 
the Russian frontier and in the wide forests near Augustovo there 
was much fighting. 

This action, described as the first battle of Augustovo, was only 
a rear-guard action, the Russians desiring merely to delay the 
enerny for a day or two. German reports, however, described it as 




LEADING GERMAN GENERALS 

Von Hindenburg, Chief of the German General Staff; von Ludendorff, 
Strategist of the General Staff; von Moltke, dismissed by the Kaiser for incom- 
petency; von Mackensen, Commander in the East; Crown Prince Rupprecht of 
Bavaria, Army Commander in the Wt-st. 



.^^^^^ 



^ „ 



f^ 



^ •= 






|j li >i ■ 'fc 






ttijfel* 






»*«*i;rf' 



CAMPAIGN IN THE EAST 137 

a victory only second in importance to Tannenberg. Von Hinden- 
burg then occupied Suwalki. He apparently had become over 
confident, and hardly reahzed that Rennenkampf was continually 
being reinforced by the Russian mobihzation. ^ ^ ^^.rv'!'^ .-^ .. 

The Russian High Command understood the situation very 
well. Their aim was to keep von Hindenburg busy on the Niemen, 
while their armies in the south were overwhelming the fleeing 
Austrians. Von Hindenburg was deceived, and continued his 
advance until he got into serious trouble. His movement had begun 
on September 7th; his army consisted of the four corps with which 
he had won Tannenberg, and large reinforcements from Germany, 
including at least one guards battahon, and a number of Saxons 
and Bavarians. The country is one vast mixture of marsh and lake 
and bog. The roads are few, and advance must therefore be slow 
and difficult. Rennenkampf made no attempt to delay him beyond 
a Uttle rear-guard fighting. The German army reached the Niemen 
on September 21st, and found behind it the Russian army in pre- 
pared positions, with large reinforcements from Vilna. '-> 

The river at this point was wide and deep, and hard to cross. 
The battle of the Niemen Crossings was an artillery duel. The 
Russians quietly waited in their trenches to watch the Germans 
build their pontoon bridges. Then their guns blew the bridges to 
pieces. Thereupon von Hindenburg bombarded the Russian fines 
hoping to destroy the Russian guns. On Friday, the 26th, his guns 
boomed all day; the Russians made no reply. So on the morning 
of the 27th he built bridges again, and again the Russians blew them 
to pieces. On the 28th he gave the order for retreat. 

He reafized that the game wasn't worth the candle; he might 
easily be kept fighting on the Niemen for months, while the main 
armies of the Russians were crossing Austria. Von Hindenburg 
conducted the retreat with a skill which came to him naturally 
from his knowledge of the marshes. 

Rennenkampf followed him closely, keeping up persistent 
attacks through the woods and marshes. The path of the retreating 
army lay through the forest of Augustovo, a country much fike that 
around the Masurian Lakes, and there the Germans suffered heavy 
losses. Von Hindenburg managed, however, to get the bulk of his 
forces back across the frontier and continued his retreat to the 
intrenchments on the Masurian Lakes. 



138 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR 

The Germans lost 60,000 men in killed, wounded and prisoners, 
and von Hindenburg handed over the command of the German 
armies in East Prussia to General von Schubert, and hastened 
south to direct the movement to relieve the Austrians at Cracow. 

But quite as important as the campaign in East Prussia was 
the struggle in Galicia. When the war began the Germans con- 
templated merely defense in their own domain; such offense as 
was planned was left to the Austrians farther south. 

GaUcia is a long, level country lying north of the Carpathian 
Mountains, and in this country Austria-Hungary had gathered 
together a force of hardly less than one million men. A quarter of 
these lay in reserve near the mountains; the remaining three- 
quarters was divided into two armies; the first, the northern army, 
being under the command of General Dankl, the second was that 
of von Offenberg. The base of the first army was Przemysl; that 
of the second was Lemberg. 

The first army, it was planned, was to advance into Russian 
territory in the direction of Lublin. The second army, stationed 
southeast of the first army, was to protect it from any Russians 
who might strike in upon the south. The first army, therefore, 
contained more picked material than the second, which included 
many troops from the southern parts of the empire, including certain 
disaffected contingents. The first army made its advance as soon 
as possible, and entered Russian territory on the 11th of August. 
It went forward with very Httle loss and against very little resist- 
ance. The Russian forces which were against it were inferior in 
number, and fell back towards the Bug. The Austrians followed, 
turning somewhat toward the east, when their advance was checked 
by news of catastrophe in their rear. On the 14th of August the 
Russian army under General Ruzsky crossed the frontier, and 
advanced toward the Austrian second army. 

The Russian army was in far greater strength than had been 
expected, and when its advance was followed by the appearance 
upon the right flank of von Offenberg's command, of yet another 
Russian army, under Brussilov, the Austrian second army found 
itself in great danger. Ruzsky advanced steadily from August 14th 
until, on the 21st, it was not more than one day's advance from 
the outer works of Lemberg, and the third Russian army under 
Brussilov was threatening von Offenberg's right flank. 



CAMPAIGN IN THE EAST 139 

Von Offenberg, underestimating the strength of the enemy, 
undertook to give battle. The first outpost actions were successful 
for the Austrians, and helped them in their blunder. On the 24th 
of August the two Russian armies effected a junction, and their 
Austrian opponents found themselves threatened with disaster. 
An endeavor was made to retreat, but the retreat turned into a 
rout. On the 28th Tarnopol was captured by the Russians, and 
the Austrian army found itself compelled to fall back upon defense 
positions to the south and east of Lemberg itself. 

The attack of the Russian armies was completely successful. 
The Austrian army was driven from its positions, and on September 
4th the Austrians evacuated Lemberg and the Russian forces took 
possession of the town. The Austrians fled. The population wel- 
comed the conquerors with the greatest enthusiasm. An immense 
quantity of stores of every kind were captured by the Russians 
together with at least 100,000 prisoners. There was no looting, 
nor any kind of outrage. The Russian policy was to make friends 
of the inhabitants of Galicia. 

But there was no halt after Lemberg. Brussilov divided his 
army, and sent his left wing into the Carpathian passes; his center 
and right moved west toward Przemysl; while Ruzsky moved 
northwest to reinforce the Russian army on the Bug. Meanwhile 
the position of Dankl's army was perilous in the extreme. There 
were two possible courses, one to fall back and join the remnants of 
von Offenberg's army, the other to attack at once, before the first 
Russian army could be reinforced, and if victorious to turn on 
Ruzsky. 

Dankl's army was now very strong. He had received rein- 
forcements, not only from Austria but from Germany. On the 
4th of September he attacked the Russian center; his attack was a 
failure, although he outnumbered the Russians. The battle con- 
tinued until the tenth. 

Everywhere the Austrians were beaten, and driven off in 
ignominious retreat. The whole Austrian force fled southward in 
great disorder; a part directed its flight toward Przemysl, others 
still farther west toward Cracow. Austria had been completely 
defeated. Poland was clear of the enemy. The Russian flag flew 
over Lemberg, while the Russian army was marching toward Cra- 
cow. The Russian star was in the ascendant. 



140 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR 

But the Austrian armies had not been annihilated. An army 
of nearly a million men cannot be destroyed in so short a time. 
The Austrian failure was due in part to the disaffection of some of 
the elements of the army, and in part to the poor Austrian general- 
ship. They had underestimated their foe, and ventured on a most 
perilous plan of campaign. 

Russian generalship had been most admirable, and the Russian 
generals were men of abihty and experience. Brussilov had seen 
service in the Turkish War of 1877. Ruzsky was a professor in the 
Russian War Academy.^ In the Japanese war he had been chief 
of staff to General Kaulbars, the commander of the Second Man- 
chiu-ian army. Associated with him was General Radko Dmitrieff, 
an able officer with a most interesting career. General Dmitrieff 
was bom in Bulgaria, when it was a Turkish province. He grad- 
uated at the Mihtary School at Sofia, and afterwards at the War 
Academy at Petrograd. On his return to Bulgaria he commanded 
a regiment in the Serbian-Bulgarian war. Later he became mixed 
up in the conspiracy against Prince Alexander, and was forced to 
leave Bulgaria. For ten years he served in the Russian army, 
returning to Bulgaria on the accession of Prince Ferdinand. Later 
on he became Chief of the General Staff, and when the Balkan 
war broke out he conmianded one of the Bulgarian armies, won 
several important victories, and became a popular hero of the war. 
Disgusted with the political squabbles which followed the war, 
he returned to Russia as a general in the Russian army. With men 
like these in command, the Russian Empire was well served. 

After the decisive defeat of the Austrian army under General 
Dankl, certain changes were made in the Russian High Command. 
General Ruzsky was made commander of the center, which was 
largely reinforced. General Ivanov was put in command of the 
armies operating in Galicia with Dmitrieff' and Brussilov as his 
chief lieutenants. Brussilov's business was to seize the deep passes 
in the Carpathians and to threaten Hungary. Dmitrieff 's duty was 
to press the Austrian retreat, and capture the main fortresses of 
central Galicia. - ' „ • ' < 

There are two great fortresses on the River San, Jaroslav and 
Przemysl, both of them controlling important railroad routes. 
Jaroslav on the main hne from Lemberg to Cracow, Przemysl with 
a line which skirts the Carpathians, and connects with Hues going 



CAMPAIGN IN THE EAST 141 

south to Hungary. Jaroslav was fortified by a strong circle of 
intrenchments and was looked to by Austria for stout resistance. 
The Austrians were disappointed, for Ivanov captured it in three 
days, on the 23d of September. Dmitrieff found Przemysl a harder 
nut to crack. It held out for many months, while operations of 
greater importance were being carried on by the Russian armies. 
The plans of the Russian generals in some respects were not unlike 
the plan previously suggested as that of the German High Command. 
At the beginning of the war they had no desire to carry on a power- 
ful offensive against Germany. The expedition into East Prussia 
was conducted more for political than for military purposes. The 
real offensive at the start was to be against Austria. The Russian 
movements were cautious at first, but the easy capture of Lem- 
berg, the fall of Jaroslav, and the demorahzation of the Austrian 
armies, encouraged more daring strategy. With the Germans 
stopped on the north, httle aid to the Austrians could come from 
that source. The Grand Duke Nicholas was eager to strike a great 
blow before the winter struck in, so his armies swept to the great 
Polish city of Cracow. The campaign against Austria also had a 
poHtical side. 

Russia had determined upon a hew attitude toward Poland. 
On August 15th the Grand Duke Nicholas, on behalf of the Czar, 
had issued a proclamation offering self-government to Russian 
Poland. Home rule for Poland had long been a favorite plan with 
the Czar. Now he promised, not only to give Russian Poland 
home rule, but to add to it the Polish peoples in Austria and Ger- 
many. This meant that Austria and Germany would have to 
give up GaHcia on the one hand, and Prussian Poland on the 
other, if they should lose the war. In the old days Poland had 
been one of the greatest kingdoms in Europe, with a proud nobility 
and high civihzation. She was one of the first of the great Slav 
peoples to penetrate the west. Later she had protected Europe 
agaiast Tartar invasion, but internal differences had weakened 
her, and, surrounded by enemies, she had first been plundered, and 
later on divided between Austria, Russia and Prussia. Never had 
the Poles consented to this destruction of their independence. 
Galicia had constantly struggled against Austria; Prussian Poland 
was equally disturbing to the Prussian peace, and Russia was only 
able to maintain the control of her Polish province by the sword. 



142 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR 

Of the three the Pole was probably more inclined to keep on friendly 
terms with Russia, also a Slav people. The poHcy of the Czar 
encouraged this inclination and produced disaffection among the 
Poles in GaHcia and in Posen. Moreover, it gave Russia the 
sympathy of the world which had long regarded the partition of 
Poland as a poHtical crime. It encouraged the Czecho-Sla"^ and 
other dissatisfied portions of the Austrian Empire. 

The results were seen inomediately in the demoralization of 
the Austrian armies where considerable numbers of Czecho-Slovak 
troops deserted to the Russian army, and later in the loyalty to 
Russia of the Poles, and their refusal, even under the greatest 
German pressure, to give the German Empire aid. 



CHAPTEH X 

The Struggle for Su^emacy on the SeA 

CAPTAIN MAHAN'S thesis tlmt in any great war the 
nation possessing the greater sea power is likely to win, 
was splendidly illustrated during the World War. 

The great English fleets proved the insuperable 
obstacle to the ambitious German plans of world dominion. The 
millions of soldiers landed in France from Great Britain, and its 
provinces, the milUons of Americans transported in safety across 
the water, and the enormous quantities of supplies put at the dis- 
posal of the Allies depended, absolutely, upon the Alhed control 
of the sea routes of the world. With a superior navy a German 
blockade of England would have brought her to terms in a short 
period, and France, left to fight alonei would have been an easy 
victim. The British navy saved the world. 

Germany had for many years well^ understood the necessity 
of power upon the sea. When the war broke out it was the second 
greatest of the sea powers. Its ships were mostly modem, for its 
navy was a creation of the past fifteen years, and its development 
was obviously for the purpose of attacking the British supremacy. 
The father of this new navy was a naval officer by the name of 
von Tirpitz, who, in 1897, had become the German Naval Minister. 
With the aid of the Emperor he had aroused among the Germans a 
great enthusiasm for maritime power, and had built up a navy in 
fifteen years, which was second only to the English navy. 

Von Tirpitz was an interesting character. In appearance 
he looked like an old sea-wolf who had passed his life on the wave, 
but such a thought would be a mistake. The great admiral's work 
was done on land; he was an organizer, a diplomatist, and a poli- 
tician. He created nothing new; in all its details he merely 
copied the English fleet. He is tall, heavily built, with a great 
white beard, forked in the middle. He is a man of much dignity, 
with a smile which has won him renown. He might have been 
Chancellor of the Empire, but he preferred to devote himself to 

143 



144 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR 

the navy, to prove that the future of Germany is on the seas. 
His glories are the Lusitania, the fleet safely anchored at Kiel, 
and the long rows of innocent victims of the submarine. 

He was born in 1850 at Kustrion on the Ildor, when the German 
navy was only a little group of worthless boats. In 1865 he entered 
the School of Cadets, in 1869 he was gazetted lieutenant, in 1875 
he was lieutenant-commander with 'a reputation as an able 
organizer. In 1891 he was appointed Chief of Staff at Kiel. This 
was his opportunity, and he set himself at the task of creating 
and protecting the submarine division of the navy. As time went 
on he grew in importance. In 1898 he became Assistant Secretary 
of State at the Admiralty in Berlin. Two years later he became 
vice-admiral. His admirers recognized his powers, and he was 
called the master. In 1899 a patent of nobility was conferred 
upon him. In 1902 he gained permission to build 13,000-ton war 
ships, and the following year he was made admiral. In 1907 
enormous appropriations were made at his desire for the enlarge- 
ment of the fleet. In 1908 Emperor William conferred on him the 
Order of the Black Eagle. In 1914 the Kiel Canal was com- 
pleted under his direction, and he informed the Emperor that the 
fleet was ready. It is only fair to add that in all his plans he had 
the active support of his Imperial Master. The Kaiser, too, had 
dreamed a dream. Von Tirpitz admired the English. His 
children had been brought up in England, as was also his wife. 
He imitated the English, but on the day of the declaration of 
war he absolutely forbade his family to talk English, and he made a 
bonfire of his fine scientific library of English books. The Kaiser 
treated Von Tirpitz as his friend, asked his advice, and followed 
his counsel. His son, Sub-Lieutenant Wolf Von Tirpitz, studied 
at Oxford, and is on the most friendly terms with many English 
gentlemen of importance. He was on board the Mainz, which 
was sunk off Helgoland in August, 1916. In full uniform he swam • 
for twenty minutes, before being picked up by one of the boats of 
the cruiser Liverpool. He was a lucky prisoner of war. The 
German battleships and cruisers which represent the toil of von 
Tirpitz for more than half a century, lay hidden away in the shelter 
of the Kiel Canal during the war to be ingloriously surrendered 
at its end. His name will remain linked with that of the Lusitania. 

The German High Pea Fleet, at the beginning of the war, 




R <=> 



S CTfH 

"J 

CD g 

^^ 
o 

Pi) 



S 



S 



g 



P< 



t^ 



03 






THE STRUGGLE FOR SUPREMACY 147 

consisted of forty-one battleships, seven battle cruisers, nine 
armored cruisers, forty-nine light cruisers, one hundred and forty- 
five destroyers, eighty torpedo boats, and thirty-eight submarines. 
Under the direction of Von Tirpitz the navy had become demo- 
cratic and had drawn to it many able men of the middle class. 
Its training was highly specialized and the officers were enthusi- 
asts in their profession. The navy of Austria-Hungary had also 
expanded in recent years under the inspiration of Admiral 
Montecuculi. At the outbreak of the war the fleet comprised 
sixteen battleships, two armored and twelve light cruisers, eighteen 
destroyers, eighty-five torpedo boats and eleven submarines. 
The Allies were much more powerful. The French navy had in 
the matter of invention given the lead to the world, but its size 
had not kept pace with its quaUty. At the beginning of the war 
France had thirty-one battleships, twenty-four armored cruisers, 
eight light cruisers, eighty-seven destroyers, one hundred and 
fifty-three torpedo boats and seventy-six submarines. Rusteia, 
after the war with Japan, had begun the creation of a powerful 
battle fleet, which had not been completed when war was declared. 
At that time she had on the Baltic four dreadnaughts, ten armored 
cruisers, two light cruisers, eighty destroyers and twenty-four sub- 
marines, akd a fleet of about half the strength in the Black Sea. 
; The English fleet had reached a point of efficiency which 
was unprecedented in its history. The progress of the German sea 
power had stimulated the spirit of the fleet, and led to a steady 
advance in training and equipment. The development of arma- 
ment, and of battleship designing, the improvement in gunnery 
practice, the revision of the rate of pay, the opening up of careers 
from the lower deck, and the provision of a naval air service are 
landmarks in the advance. In the navy estimates of March, 1914, 
Parliament sanctioned over £51,000,000 for a naval defense, the 
largest appropriation for the purpose ever made. The home fleet 
was arranged in three units, the first fleet was divided into four 
battle squadrons, together with the flagship of the commander-in- 
chief. The first squadron was made up of eight battleships, the 
second squadron contained eight, the third eight and the fourth 
four. Attached to each fleet was a battle cruiser squadron, con- 
sisting of four ships in the first fleet, four in the second, four in the 
third and five in the fourth. The fourth also contained a light 



148 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR 

cruiser squadron, a squadron of six gunboats for mine sweeping, 
and four flotillas of destroyers, each with a flotilla cruiser attached* 
The second fleet was composed of two battle squadrons, the first 
containing eight pre-dreadnaughts, and the second six. Attached 
to this fleet were also two cruiser squadrons, a mine layer squadron of 
seven vessels, four patrol flotillas, consisting of destroyers and 
torpedo boats, and seven flotillas of submarines. A third fleet 
contained two battle squadrons, mainly composed of old ships, 
with six cruiser squadrons. The EngUsh strength, outside home 
waters, consisted of the Mediterranean fleet, containing three 
battle cruisers, four armored cruisers, four ordinary cruisers and 
a flotilla of seventeen destroyers, together with submarines and 
torpedo boats. In eastern waters there were a battleship, two 
cruisers, and four sloops. In the China squadron there were one 
battleship, two armored cruisers, two ordinary cruisers, and a 
number of gunboats, destroyers, submarines, and torpedo boats. 
In New Zealand there were four cruisers. The AustraUan fleet 
contained a battle cruiser, three ordinary cruisers, three destroyers 
and two submarines. Other cruisers and gunboats were stationed 
at the Cape, the west coast of Africa, and along the western Atlan- 
tic. At the outbreak of the war two destroyers were purchased 
from Chile, and two Turkish battleships, building in England, 
were commandeered by the government. 

It is evident that the union of France and Britain made the 
Allies easily superior in the Mediterranean Sea, so that France 
was able to transport her African troops in safety, and the British 
commerce with India and the East could safely continue. The 
main field of the naval war, therefore, was the North Sea and the 
Baltic, where Germany had all her fleet, except a few naval 
raiders. The entrance to the Baltic was closed to the enemy by 
Denmark, which, as a neutral, was bound to prevent an enemy 
fleet from passing. Germany, however, by means of the Kiel 
Canal, could permit the largest battle fleet to pass from the Baltic 
to the North Sea. The German High Sea Fleet was weaker than 
the British home fleet by more than forty per cent, and the German 
policy, thereto, was to avoid a battle, until, through mine layers 
^nd submarines, the British power should have been sufficiently 
weakened. The form of the German coast m^de this plan easily 
PQSsible, The various bays and river mouths provided safe retreat 



THE STRUGGLE FOR SUPREMACY 149 

for the German ships, and the German fleet were made secure by 
the fortifications along the coast. On July the 29th, 1914, at 
the conclusion of the annual maneuvers, instead of being demo- 
biHzed as would have been usual, the Grand Fleet of Great Britain 
sailed from Portland along the coast into the mists, and from 
that moment dominated the whole course of the war. 

From the 4th of August, the date of the declaration of war, 
the oceans of the world were practically rid of enemy war ships, 
and were closed to enemy mercantile marine. Although diplo- 
macy had not yet failed, the masters of the English navy were not 
caught napping. The credit for this readiness has been given to 
Mr. Winston Churchill, one of the first Lords of the Admiralty, 
who had divined the coming danger. When the grand fleet sailed 
it seemed to disappear from English view. Occasionally some 
dweller along the coast might see an occasional cruiser or destroyer 
sweeping by in the distance, but the great battleships had gone. 
Somewhere, in some hidden harbor, lay the vigilant fleets of 
England. - h,-,^- - ^ ■■■^^^;i|^^|^- ^ 

Sea fighting had changed since the days of Admiral Nelson. 
The old wooden ship belonged to a past generation. The guns 
of a battleship would have sunk the Spanish Armada with one 
broadside. In this modem day the battleship was protected by 
aircraft, which dropped bombs from the clouds. Unseen sub- 
marines circled about her. Beneath her might be mines, which 
could destroy her at the sHghtest touch. Everything had changed 
but the daring of the EngHsh sailor. ; >C ^ 

In conmaand of the Home fleet was Admiral Sir John Jellicoe. 
He had had a distinguished career. Beginning as a lieutenant 
in the Egyptian War of 1882, he had become a commander in 
1891. In 1897 he became a captain, and served in China, com- 
manding the Naval Brigade in the Pekin Expedition of 1900, 
where he was severely woimded. Later he became naval assistant 
to the Controller of the Navy, Director of Naval Ordnance and 
Torpedoes, Rear-Admiral in the United Fleet, Lord Commissioner 
of the Admiralty and Controller of the Navy, Vice-Admiral com- 
manding the Atlantic fleet, Vice-Admiral commanding the second 
division of the Home fleet, and second Sea Lord of the Admiralty. 
He had distinguished himself in the naval maneuvers of 1913, 
and was one of the officers mainly responsible for the development 



150 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR 

of the modern English navy. He had the confidence of his col- 
leagues, and a peculiar popularity among the British seamen. 

On the day after the declaration of war, the first shots were 
fired. German mine layers, it is now beheved, in disguise, had 
been dropping mines during the preceding week over a wide area 
of the North Sea. On the 5th of August the mine layer, Koenigen 
Luise, was sunk by the destroyer Lance, and on August 6th the 
British light cruiser Amphion struck one of the mines laid by the 
Koenigen Luise and was sunk with great loss of life. On August 
9th, German submarines attacked a cruiser squadron without 
causing any damage, and one submarine was sunk. 

It was in the Mediterranean, however, that the greatest 
interest was felt during the first week of the war. Two German 
war ships, the Goeben and the Breslau, were off the Algerian coast 
when war broke out. It is probable that when these ships received 
their sailing orders, Germany depended on the assistance of Italy, 
and had sent these ships to its assistance. They were admirably 
suited for commerce destroyers. They began by bombarding 
the Algerian coast towns of Bona and Phillipe, doing little damage. 
They then turned toward the coast of Gibraltar, but found before 
them the British fleet. Eluding the British they next appeared 
at Messina. There the captains and officers made their wills and 
deposited their valuables, including signed portraits of the Kaiser, 
with the German consul. The decks were cleared for action, 
and with the bands playing they sailed out under a blood-red 
sunset. i^ 

However, they seem to have been intent only on escape, and 
they went at full speed eastward toward the Dardanelles, meeting 
in their way only with the British cruiser Gloucester, which, 
though much inferior in size, attacked them boldly but was unable 
to prevent their escape. On entering Constantinople they were 
reported as being sold to the Turkish Government, the Turks 
thus beginning the line of conduct which was ultimately to bring 
them into the war. 

Picturesque as this incident was it was of no importance as 
compared with the great British blockade of Germany which began 
on the 4th of August. German merchantmen in every country 
of the empire were seized, and hundreds of ships were captured 
on the high seas. Those who escaped to neutral ports were at 



ji^ 



■^2 






' / 







•0, i rii 



JMMLiknJ, ,„ ./ 




TORPEDOIKG OF THE BRITISH BATTLESHIP, "ABOUKIR" 

In the first few weeks of the war, when the navies of the world were 
still at open warfare, during a sharp engagement off the Hook of Holland 
in the North Sea the British warships "Aboukir". "Cressy" and''Hogue" 
fell victims to the enemy. This sketch shows the "Aboukir" after a Genoan 
torpedo had found its mark in her bull. 



THE STRUGGLE FOR SUPREMACY 153 

once interned. In a week German commerce had ceased to exist. 
A few German cruisers were still at large but it was not long before 
they had been captured, or driven into neutral ports. Among the 
most picturesque of these raiders were the Emden and the Koenigs- 
berg. The Emden, in particular, interested the world with her 
romantic adventures. Her story is best told in the words of Lieu- 
tenant-Captain von Miicke, and Lieutenant Gyssing, whose retiun 
to Germany with forty-four men, four officers and one surgeon, 
after the destruction of the ship, was a veritable Odyssey. 

"We on the Emden had no idea where we were going, as, on 
August 11, 1914, we separated from the cruiser squadron, escorted 
only by the coaler Markomannia. Under way the Emden picked 
up three officers from German steamers. That was a piece of 
luck, for afterward we needed many officers for the capturing and 
sinking of steamers, or manning them when we took them with 
us. On September 10th, the first boat came in sight. We stopped 
her; she proved to be a Greek tramp returning from England. 
On the next day we met the Indus, bound for Bombay, all fitted 
up as a troop transport, but still without troops. That was the 
first one we sunk. The crew we took aboard the Markomannia. 
Then we sank the Lovat, a troop transport ship, and took the 
Kambinga along with us. One gets used quickly to new forms of 
activity. After a few days, capturing ships became a habit. Of 
the twenty-three which we captured most of them stopped after 
our first signal; when they didn't, we fired a blank shot. Then 
they all stopped. Only one, the Clan Matteson, waited for a 
real shot across the bow before giving up its m^^y automobilps 
and locomotives to the seas. 

"The officers were mostly very polite, and let down rope ladders 
for us. After a few hours they would be on board with us. We 
ourselves never set foot in their cabins, nor took charge of them. 
The officers often acted on their own initiative, and signaled to 
us the nature of their cargo. Then the commandant decided as 
to whether to sink the ship or take it with us. Of the cargo we 
always took every thing we could use, particularly provisions. 
Many of the English officers and sailors made good use of the 
hours of transfer to drink up the supply of whisky instead of sacri- 
ficing it to the waves. I heard that one captain was lying in tears 
at the enforced separation from his beloved ship, but on investiga- 



154 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR 

tion found that he was merely dead drunk. The captain on one 
ship once called out cheerily 'Thank God, I've been captured.' 
He had received expense money for the trip to Australia, and was 
now saved half the journey." | 

Parenthetically it may be remarked, that the Emden's cap- 
tain, Karl von Mueller, conducted himself at all times with 
chivalrous bravery, according to the accounts of the English them- 
selves, who in their reports say of him, admiringly, "He played 
the game." Captain von Miicke's account continues: 

"We had mostly quiet weather, so that communication with 
captm-ed ships was easy. They were mostly dynamited, or else 
shot close to the water line. At Calcutta we made one of our 
richest hauls, the Diplomat, chock full of tea, we sunk $2,500,000 
worth. On the same day the Trabbotch, too, which steered right 
straight towards us, was captured. By now we wanted to beat 
it out of the Bay of Bengal, because we had learned from the papers 
that the Emden was being keenly searched for. By Rangoon we 
encountered a Norwegian tramp, which, for a cash consideration, 
took over all the rest of our prisoners of war. ^•■' > 

"On September 23d we reached Madras, and steered straight 
for the harbor. We stopped still 3,000 yards before the city. 
Then we shot up the oil tanks; three or four of them burned up 
and illuminated the city. Two days later we navigated around 
Ceylon, and could see the lights of Colombo. On the same evening 
we gathered in two more steamers, the King Lund, and Tywerse. 
The next evening we got the Burresk, a nice steamer with 500 tons 
of nice Cardiff coal. Then followed in order, the Ryberia, Foyle, 
Grand Ponrabbel, Benmore, Troiens, Exfort, Graycefale, Sankt 
Eckbert, Chilkana. Most of them were sunk. The coal ships 
were kept. All this happened before October 20th. | Then we 
sailed southward to Deogazia, southwest of Colombo." ^«* 

The captain then tells with much gusto a story of a visit paid 
to the Emden by some English farmers, at Deogazia, who were 
entertained royally by the Emden officers. They knew nothing 
about the war, and the Emden officers told them nothing. His 
narrative continues: 

"Now we went toward Miniko, where we sank two ships more. 
On the next day we found three steamers to the north, one of them 
with much desired Cardiff coal. From English papers on the 



THE STRUGGLE FOR SUPREMACY U6 

captured ships we learned that we were being hotly pursued. 
One night we started for Penang. On October 28th we raised a 
viery practicable fourth smokestack (for disguise). The harbor of 
Penang lies in a channel difficult of access. There was nothing 
doing by night. We had to do it at daybreak. At high speed, 
without smoke, with lights out, we steered into the mouth of the 
channel. A torpedo boat on guard slept well. We steamed past 
its small light. Inside lay a dark silhouette. That must be a 
warship. We recognized the silhouette dead sure. That was the 
Russian cruiser Jemtchud. There it lay, there it slept Hke a rat, 
no watch to be seen. They made it easy for us. Because of the 
narrowness of the harbor we had to keep close; we fired the first 
torpedo at four hundred yards. 

''Then, to be sure, things livened up a bit on the sleeping 
warship. At the same time we took the crew quarters under fire 
five shells at a time. There was a flash of flame on board, then 
a kind of burning aureole. After the fourth shell the flame burned 
high. The first torpedo had struck the ship too deep, because we 
were too close to it. A second torpedo which we fired off from the 
other side didn't make the same mistake. After twenty seconds 
there was absolutely not a trace of the ship to be seen. 

"But now another ship which we couldn't see was firing. That 
was the French D'lvrebreville, toward which we now turned at 
once. A few minutes later an incoming torpedo destroyer was 
reported. It proved to be the French torpedo boat Mousquet. 
It came straight toward us. That's always remained a mystery 
to me, for it must have heard the shooting. An officer whom we 
fished up afterward explained to me that they had only recognized 
we were a German warship when they were quite close to us. 
The Frenchman behaved well, accepted battle and fought on, 
but was poHshed off by us with three broadsides. The whole 
fight with those ships lasted haK an hour. The commander of the 
torpedo boat lost both legs by the first broadside. When he saw 
that part of his crew were leaping overboard he cried out 'Tie 
me fast. I will not survive after seeing Frenchmen desert their 
ship.' As a matter of fact he went down with his ship, as a brave 
captain, lashed fast to the mast. That was my only sea-fight. 

"On November 9th I left the Emden in order to destroy the 
wireless plant on the Cocos Island. I had fifty men, four machine 



156 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR 

guns and about thirty rifles. Just as we were about to destroy 
the apparatus it reported 'Careful. Emden near.' The work of 
destruction went smoothly. Presently the Emden signaled to us 
'Hurry up.' I pack up, but simultaneously wails the Emden's 
siren. I hurry up to the bridge, see the flag 'Anna' go up. That 
means weigh anchor. We ran like mad into our boat, but already 
the Emden's pennant goes up, the battle flag is raised, they fire 
from starboard. The enemy is concealed by the island, and there- 
fore not to be seen, but I see the shell strike the water. To follow 
and catch the Emden is out of question. She is going twenty 
knots, I only four with my steam pinnace. Therefore I turn back 
to land, raise the flag, declare German laws of war in force, seize 
all arms, set out my machine guns on shore in order to guard against 
a hostile landing. Then I run again in order to observe the fight." 

The cable operator at Cocos Island gives the following account 
of what happened from this point. After describing the sudden 
flight of the Emden, he goes on: 

"Looking to the eastward we could see the reason for this 
sudden departure, for a warship, which we afterwards learned was 
the Australian cruiser Sydney, was coming up at full speed in 
pursuit. The Emden did not wait to discuss matters, but, firing 
her first shot at a range of about 3,700 yards, steamed north as 
hard as she could go. At first the firing of the Emden seemed 
excellent, while that of the Sydney was somewhat erratic. This, 
as I afterward learned, was due to the fact that the Australian 
cruiser's range finder was put out of action by one of the only 
two shots the Germans got home. However, the British gunners 
soon overcame any difficulties that this may have caused, and 
settled down to their work, so that before long two of the Emden's 
funnels had been shot away. She also lost one of her masts quite 
early in the fight. Both blazing away with their big guns the two 
cruisers disappeared below the horizon, the Emden being on fire. 

"Early the next morning, Tuesday, November 10th, we 
saw the Sydney returning, and at 8.45 a. m. she anchored off the 
island. From various members of the crew I gathered some details 
of the running fight with the Emden. The Sydney, having an 
advantage in speed, was able to keep out of range of the Emden's 
guns, and to bombard with her own heavier metal. The engage- 
ment lasted eighty minutes, the Emden finally running ashore 



THE STRUGGLE FOR SUPREMACY 157 

on North Keeling Island, and becoming an utter wreck. Only- 
two German shots proved effective, one of these failed to explode, 
but smashed the main range finder and killed one man, the other 
killed three men and wounded fourteen. 

"Each of the cruisers attempted to torpedo the other, but 
both were unsuccessful, and the duel proved a contest in hard 
pounding at long range. The Sydney's speed during the fighting 
was twenty-six knots, and the Emden's twenty-four knots. The 
British ship's superiority of two knots enabled her to choose the 
range at which the battle should be fought and to make the most 
of her superior guns. Finally, with a number of wounded prisoners 
on board, the Sydney left here yesterday, and our few hours of 
war excitement were over." 

Captain Miicke's return home from the Cocos Island was 
filled with the most extraordinary adventures, and when he finally 
arrived in country controlled by his AlUes he was greeted as a hero. 

While the story of the Emden especially interested the world, 
the Koenigsberg also caused much trouble to Enghsh commerce. 
Her chief exploit occurred on the 20th of September, when she 
caught the British cruiser Pegasus in Zanzibar harbor undergoing 
repairs. The Pegasus had no chance, and was destroyed by the 
Koenigsberg's long-range fire. Nothing much was heard later 
of the Koenigsberg, which was finally destroyed by an Enghsh 
cruiser, July 11, 1915. 

The exploits of these two German conmierce raiders attracted 
general attention, because they were the exceptions to the rule. 
The British, on the other hand, were able to capture such German 
merchantmen as ventured on the sea without great difficulty, and 
as they did not destroy their capture, but brought them before 
prize courts, the incidents attracted no great attention. The 
Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse, which had been fitted up as a com- 
merce destroyer by the Germans at the beginning of the war, as 
was the Spreewald of the Hamburg-American Line, and the Cap 
Trafalgar, were caught and sunk during the month of September. 
On the whole, Enghsh foreign trade was unimpaired. 

But though the German fleet had been bottled up in her 
harbors, Germany was not yet impotent. There remained the 
submarine. 

Up to 1905 Germany had not a single submarine. The 



158 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR 

first German submarine was launched on August 30, 1905. Even 
then it was considered merely an experiment. In Febi-uary, 1907, 
it was added to the register of the fleet. On January 1, 1901, there 
were only four nations that possessed submarines, France, with 
fourteen; the United States, with eight; England, with six, of whieli 
not one was completed, and finally Italy, with two. In 1910, 
Germany appropriated 18,750,000 marks for submarines, and 
in 1913, 25,000,000 marks. On January 1, 1914, the total number 
of submarines of all nations was approximately four hundred. 

Early in the war the submarine became a grave menace to 
the EngHsh navy and to Enghsh commerce. On the 5th of Septem- 
ber the Pathfinder, a fight cruiser, was torpedoed and sunk with 
great loss of life. On September 22d, three cruisers, the Cressy, 
Hogue, and Aboukir were engaged in patrolling the coast of Holland. 
A great storm had been raging and the cruisers were not protected 
by the usual screen of destroyers. At half-past six in the morning 
the seas had fallen and the cruisers proceeded to their posts. The 
report of Commander Nicholson, of the Cressy, of what followed 
gives a good idea of the effectiveness of the submarine. 

"The Aboukir," says this report, "was struck at about 6.25 
A. M. on the starboard beam. The Hogue and Cressy closed, and 
took up a position, the Hogue ahead of the Abouldr, and the Cressy 
about four hundred yards on her port beam. As soon as it was seen 
that the Aboukir was in danger of sinking, all the boats were sent 
away from the Cressy, and a picket boat was hoisted out without 
steam up. When cutters full of the Aboukir's men were returning 
to the Cressy, the Hogue was struck, apparently under the aft 9.2 
magazine, as a very heavy explosion took place immediately. 
Almost directly after the Hogue was hit we observed a periscope 
on our port bow about three hundred yards off. Fire was immedi- 
ately opened, and the engines were put full speed ahead with the 
intention of running her down. . . . 

"Captain Johnson then maneuvered the ship so as to render 
assistance to the crews of the Hogue and Aboukir. About five 
minutes later another peig!scope was seen on our starboard quarter, 
and fire was opened. The track of the torpedo she fired at a range 
of from 500 to 600 yards was plainly visible, and it struck us on 
the starboard side just before the after bridge. The ship listed 
about ten degrees to the starboard and remained steady. The 



THE STRUGGLE FOR SUPREMACY 159 

time was 7.15 a. m. All the water-tight doors, dead lights and 
scuttles had been securely closed before the torpedoes left the ship. 
All mess stools and table shores and all available timber below and 
on deck had been previously got up and thrown overside for the 
saving of life. A second torpedo fired by the same submarine 
missed and passed about ten feet astern. 

"About a quarter of an hour after the first torpedo had hit, 
a third torpedo fired from the submarine just before the star- 
board beam, hit us under the No. 5 boiler room. The time was 
7.30 A. M. The ship then began to heel rapidly, and finally turned 
keel up remaining so for about twenty minutes before she finally 
sank. It is possible that the same submarine fired all three tor- 
pedoes at the Cressy." 

Of the total crews of 1,459 officers and men only 779 were 
saved. The survivors beUeved that they had seen at least three 
submarines, but the German oflfi.cial account mentions only one, 
the U-9, under Captain-Lieutenant Otto Weddigen whose account 
of this battle confirms the report of Commander Nicholson. Refer- 
ring to the reports that a flotilla of German submarines had attacked 
the cruisers, he says: 

"These reports were absolutely untrue. U-9 was the only 
submarine on deck." He adds: "I reached the home port on the 
afternoon of the 23d and on the 24th went to Wilhelmshaven to 
find that news of my effort had become pubHc. My wife, dry- 
eyed when I went' away, met me with tears. Then I learned that 
my little vessel and her brave crew had won the plaudit of the 
Kaisei* who conferred upon each of my co-workers the Iron Cross 
of the second] class and upon me the Iron Crosses of the first and 
second classes." 

Weddigen was the hero of the hour in Germany. He had with 
him twenty-five men. He seems to have acted with courage and 
skill, but it is also evident that the English staff work was to blame. 
Three such vessels should never have been sent out without a 
screen of destroyers, nor should the Hogue and the Cressy have 
gone to the rescue of the Aboukir. A few days after the disaster 
the EngHsh Admiralty issued the following statement: 

The sinking of the Aboukir was of course an ordinary hazard of 
patrolling duty. The Hogue and Cressy, however, were sunk because 
they proceeded to the assistance of their consort, and remained with 



160 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR 

engines stopped, endeavoring to save life, thus presenting an easy target 
to further submarine attacks. The natural promptings of humanity have 
in this case led to heavy losses, which would have been avoided by a 
strict adhesion to military consideration. Modern naval war is pre- 
senting us with so many new and strange situations that an error of 
judgment of this character is pardonable. But it has become necessary 
to point out for the future guidance of His Majesty's ships that the con- 
ditions which prevail when one vessel of a squadron is injured in the mine 
field, or is exposed to submarine attack, are analogous to those which 
occur in action, and that the rule of leaving ships to their own resources 
is applicable, so far, at any rate, as large vessels are concerned. ^^^ l^^ 

On the 28th of August occurred the first important naval 
action of the war, the battle of Helgoland. From the 9th of August 
German cruisers had shown activity in the seas around Helgoland 
and had sunk a number of British trawlers. The English sub- 
marines, E-6 and E-8, and the light cruiser Fearless, had patrolled 
the seas, and on the 21st of August the Fearless had come under 
the enemy's shell fire. On August 26th the submarine flotilla, 
under Commodore Keyes, sailed from Harwich for the Bight of 
Helgoland, and all the next day the Lurcher and the Firedrake, 
destroyers, scouted for submarines. On that same day sailed the 
first and third destroyer flotillas, the battle cruiser squadron, 
first light cruiser squadron, and the seventh cruiser squadron, 
having a rendezvous at this point on the morning of the 28th. 

The morning was beautiful and clear, so that the submarines 
could be easily seen. Close to Helgoland were Commodore Keyes' 
eight submarines, and his two small destroyers. Approaching 
rapidly from the northwest were Commodore Tyrwhitt's two 
destroyer flotillas, a little to the east was Commodore Goodenough's 
first light cruiser squadron. Behind this squadron were Sir David 
Beatty's battle cruisers with four destroyers. To the south and 
west of Helgoland lay Admiral Christian's seventh cruiser squadron. 

Presently from behind Helgoland came a number of German 
destroyers, followed by two cruisers; and the English submarines, 
with the two small destroyers, fled westwards, acting as a decoy. 
As the Germans followed, the British destroyer flotillas on the 
northwest came rapidly down. At the sight of these destroyers 
the German destroyers fled, and the British attempted to head 
them off. 

According to the official report the principle of the movement 



THE STRUGGLE FOR SUPREMACY 161 

was to cut the German light craft from home, and engage it at 
leisure on the open sea. 

But between the two German cruisers and the EngHsh cruisers 
a fierce battle took place. The Arethusa was engaged with the 
German Ariadne, and the Fearless with the Strasburg. A shot 
from the Arethusa shattered the fore bridge of the Ariadne and 
killed the captain, and both German cruisers drew off toward 
Helgoland. 

Meanwhile the destroyers were engaged in a hot fight. They 
sunk the leading boat of the German flotilla and damaged a dozen 
more. Between nine and ten o'clock there was a lull in the fight; 
the submarines, with some of the destroyers, remained in the 
neighborhood of Helgoland, and the Germans, beUeving that these 
boats were the only hostile vessels in the neighborhood, determined 
to attack them. 

The Mainz, the Koln, and the Strasburg came again on the 
scene, and opened a heavy fire on some of the boats of the first 
flotilla which were busy saving fife. The small destroyers were 
driven away, but the seamen in the boats were rescued by an 
English submarine. The Arethusa and the Fearless, with the 
destroyers in their company, engaged with three enemy cruisers. 
The Strasburg, seriously injured, was compelled to flee. The 
boilers of the Mainz blew up, and she became a wreck. The Koln 
only remaining and carrying on the fight. 

The English destroyers were much crippled, and as the battle 
had now lasted for five hours any moment the German great battle- 
ships might come on the scene. A wireless signal had been sent to 
Sir David Beatty, asking for help, and about twelve o'clock the 
Falmouth and the Nottingham arrived on the scene of action. By 
this time the first destroyer flotilla was out of action and the third 
flotilla and the Arethusa had their hands full with the Koln. The 
light cruisers were followed at 12.15 by the Enghsh battle cruisers, 
the Lion came first, and she alone among the battle cruisers seems 
to have used her guns. Her gun power beat down all opposition. 
The Koln made for home, but the Lion's guns set her on fire. 
The luckless Ariadne hove in sight, but the terrible 13.5-inch guns 
sufficed for her. The battle cruisers circled around, and in ten 
minutes the Koln went to the bottom. 

At twenty minutes to two, Admiral Beatty turned home- 



162 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR 

ward. The German cruisers Mainz, Koln, and the Ariadne had 
been sunk; the Strasburg was seriously damaged. One destroyer 
was sunk, and at least seven seriously injured. About seven hundred 
of the German crew perished and there were three hundred prisoners. 
The British force returned without the loss of a single ship. The 
Arethusa had been badly damaged, but was easily repaired. The 
casualty list was thirty-two killed and fifty-two wounded. The 
battle was fought on both sides with great gallantry, the chief 
glory belonging to the Arethusa and the Fearless who bore the brunt 
of the battle. The strategy and tactical skill employed were ad- 
mirable, and the German admiral, von Ingenohl from that time 
on, with one exception, kept his battleships in harbor, and confined 
his activities to mine laying and the use of submarines. 

In the first days of the war the German mine layers had been 
busy. By means of trawlers disguised as neutrals, mines were 
dropped off the north coast of Ireland, and a large mine field was 
laid off the eastern coast of England. One of the most important 
duties of the Royal Naval Reserve was the task of mine sweeping. 
Over seven hundred mine-sweeping vessels were constantly em- 
ployed in keeping an area of 7,200 square miles clear for shipping. 
These ships swept 15,000 square miles monthly, and steamed over 
1,100,000 miles in carrying out their duties. 

It would be hard to overestimate the effect of the British 
blockade of the German ports upon the fortunes of the war. The 
Germans for a long time attempted, by the use of neutral ships, 
to obtain the necessary supplies through Holland, Sweden, Norway 
and Switzerland. Millions of dollars' worth of food and munitions 
ultimately reached German hands. The imports of all these 
nations were multipHed many times, but as the time went on the 
blockade grew stricter and stricter until the Germans felt the 
pinch. To conduct efiiciently this blockade meant the use of over 
3,600 vessels which were added to the auxiHary patrol service. 
Over 13,000 vessels were intercepted and examined by units of 
the British navy employed on blockade channels. 

The Germans protested with great vigor against this blockade, 
and ultimately endeavored to counteract it by declaring unre- 
stricted submarine warfare. In fact, Great Britain had gone too 
far, and vigorous protests from America followed her attempt to 
seize contraband goods in American vessels. 



THE STRUGGLE FOR SUPREMACY 163 

The code of maritime law, adopted in the Declaration at Paris 
of 1856, as well as the Declaration in London of 1909, had been 
framed in the interests of unmaritime nations. The British 
plenipotentiaries had agreed to these laws on the theory that in 
any war of the futm^e Britain would be neutral. The rights of 
neutrals had been greatly increased. A blockade was difficult to 
enforce, for the right of a blockading power to capture a blockade 
rimner did not cover the whole period of her voyage, and was 
confined to ships of the blockading force. A ship carrying contra- 
band could only be condemned if the contraband formed more 
than half its cargo. A belligerent warship could destroy a neutral 
vessel without taking it into a port for a judgment. The transfer 
of an enemy vessel to a neutral flag was presumed to be valid, if 
effected more than thirty days before the outbreak of war. Bel- 
ligerents in neutral vessels on the high seas were exempt from 
capture. The Emden could justify its sinking of British ships, 
but the English were handicapped in their endeavor to prevent 
neutral ships from carrying supplies to Germany. 

But Germany had become a law unto itself. And England 
found it necessary in retaliation to issue orders in council which 
made nugatory many of the provisions of the maritime code. The 
protests of the American Government and those of other neutrals 
were treated with the greatest consideration, and every endeavor 
was made that no real injustice should be done. When America 
itself later entered the war these differences of opinion disappeared 
from pubhc view. 



CHAPTER XI 

The Sublime Porte 

A S SOON as the diplomatic relations between Austria and 
/\ Serbia had been broken, the Turkish Grand Vizier 
/ \ informed the diplomatic corps in Constantinople that 
Turkey would remain neutral in the conflict. The declara- 
tion was not formal, for war had not yet been declared. The 
policy of Turkey, as represented in the ministerial paper, Tasfiri- 
Efkiar, was as follows : 

*' Turkey has never asked for war, as she always has worked 
toward avoiding it, but neutrahty does not mean indifference. 
The present Austro-Serbian conflict is to a supreme degree inter- 
esting to us. In the first place, one of our erstwhile opponents is 
fighting against a much stronger enemy. In the natural course 
of things Serbia, which till lately was expressing, in a rather open 
way, her soHdarity as a nation, still provoking us, and Greece, 
will be materially weakened. In the second place, the results of 
this war may surpass the limits of the conflict between two coun- 
tries, and in that case our interests will be just as materially 
affected. We must, therefore, keep our eyes open, as the circum- 
stances are momentarily changing, and do not permit us to let 
escape certain advantages which we can secure by active, and 
rightly acting, diplomacy. The policy of neutrality will impose 
on us the obligation of avoiding to side with either of the belUg- 
erents. But the same policy will force us to take all the necessary 
measures for safeguarding our interests and our frontiers." 

Whereupon a Tm-kish mobiUzation was at once ordered. The 
war had hardly begun when Turkey received the news that her 
twb battleships, building in British yards, had been taken over 
by England. A bitter feeling against England was at once aroused, 
Turkish mobs proceeded to attack the British stores and British 
subjects, and attempts were even made against the British embassy 
in Constantinople, and the British consulate at Smyrna. 

At this time Turkey was in a peculiar position. For a cen- 

164 



THE SUBLIME PORTE 



165 



tury she had been on the best of terms with France and Great 
Britain. On the other hand Russia had been her hereditary enemy. 
She was still suffering from her defeat by the Balkan powers, and 
her statesmen saw in this war great possibilities. She desired to 
recover her lost provinces in Europe, and saw at once that she 
could hope for little from the Allies in this direction. 

For some years, too, German intrigues, and, according to 
report, German money, had enabled the German Government to 
control the leading Turkish statesmen. German generals, under 




Sketch of Territory Controlled by Turkey in 1914 

General Liman von Sanders, were practically in control of the 
Turkish army. The commander-in-chief was Enver Bey, who had 
been educated in Germany and was more German than the Germans. 
A new system of organization for the Turkish army had been 
established by the Germans, which had substituted the mechanical 
German system for the rough and inefficient Turkish methods. 
Universal conscription provided men, and the Turkish soldier has 
always been known as a good soldier. Yet as it turned out the 
German training did Httle for him. Under his own officers he 
could fight well, but under German officers, fighting for a cause 
which he neither liked nor understood, he was bound to fail. 



166 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR 

At first the Turkish mobilization was conducted in such a 
way as to be ready to act in common with Bulgaria in an attack 
against Greek and Serbian Macedonia, as soon as the Austrians 
had obtained a decisive victory over the Serbians. The entry 
of Great Britain into the war interfered with this scheme. Mean- 
time, though not at war, the Turks were suffering almost as much 
as if war had been declared. Greedy speculators took advantage 
of the situation, and the government itself requisitioned every- 
thing it could lay its hands on. 

A Constantinople correspondent, writing on the 6th of August, 
says as follows: 

"Policemen and sheriffs followed by military officers are 
taking by force everything in the way of foodstuffs, entering the 
bakeries and other shops selhng victuals, boarding ships with 
cargoes of flour, potatoes, wheat and rice, and taking over vir- 
tually everything, giving in Heu of payment a receipt which is 
not worth even the paper on which it is written. In this way 
many shops are forced to close, bread has entirely disappeared 
from the bakeries, and Constantinople, the capital of a neutral 
country, is already feeling all the troubles and privations of a 
besieged city. Prices for foodstuffs have soared to inaccessible 
heights, as provisions are becoming scarce. Actual hand-to-hand 
combats are taking place in the streets outside the bakeries for 
the possession of a loaf of bread, and hungry women with children 
in their arms are seen crying and weeping with despair. Many 
merchants, afraid lest the government requisition their goods, 
hasten to have their orders canceled, the result being that no 
merchandise of any kind is coming to Constantinople either from 
Europe or from Anatolia. Both on account of the recruiting of 
their employees, and of shortage of coal, the companies operating 
electric tramways of the city have reduced their service to the 
minimum, as no power is available for the running of the cars. 
Heartrending scenes are witnessed in front of the closed doors 
of the various banking establishments, where large posters are to 
be seen bearing the inscription 'Closed temporarily by order of 
the government.' " 

Immediately after war was declared between Germany and 
Russia the Porte ordered the Bosporus and Dardanelles closed to 
every kind of shipping, at the same time barring the entrances of 



THE SUBLIME PORTE 167 

these channels with rows of mines. The first boat to suffer from 
this measm-e was a British merchantman which was sunk outside 
the Bosporus, while another had a narrow escape in the Darda- 
nelles. A large number of steamers of every nationality waited 
outside the straits for the special pilot boats of the Turkish Govern- 
ment, in order to pass in safety through the dangerous mine field. 
This measure of closing the straits was suggested to Turkey by 
Austria and Germany, and was primarily intended against Russia, 
as it was feared that her Black Sea fleet might force its way into 
the Sea of Marmora and the iEgean. 

On August 2d the Turkish Parliament was prorogued, so 
that all political power might center around the Imperial throne. 
A vigorous endeavor was made to strengthen the Turkish navy. 
Djemal Pasha was placed at its head with Arif Bey as chief of the 
naval staff. Talaat Bey and Halil Bey were sent to Bucharest to 
exchange views with Roumanian statesmen, and representatives 
of the Greek Government, in regard to the outstanding Greco- 
Turkish difficulties. 

I '^ On September 10th an official announcement from the Sublime 
Porte was issued defining in the first place many constitutional 
reforms, and in particular aboHshing the capitulation, that is, 
the concessions made by law to foreigners, allowing them partici- 
pation in the administration of justice, exemption from taxation, 
and special protection in their business transactions. In abolish- 
ing these capitulations the Ottoman Government declared that it 
would treat foreign countries in accordance with the rules of 
international law, and that it was acting without any hostile 
feeling against any of the foreign states. 

The AlUed governments formally protested against this 
action of the Turkish Government. Meantime Constantinople 
was the center of most elaborate intrigues. The Turkish Govern- 
ment grew more and more warUke, and began to threaten, not 
only Greece, but Russia and the Triple Entente as well. During 
this period the Turkish press maintained an active campaign 
against England and the Allies. Every endeavor was made by 
the Sublime Porte to secure Roumanian or Bulgarian co-operation 
in a militant policy. The Allies, seeing the situation, made many 
promises to Bulgaria, Greece and Roumania. Bulgaria was 
offered Adrianople and Thrace; Greece was to have Smyrna, and 



168 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR 

Roumania the Roumanian provinces in Austria. The jealousy of 
these powers of each other prevented an agreement. The influ- 
ence of Germany became more and more preponderant with the 
Ottoman Empire; indeed, it is probable that an understanding 
had existed between the two powers from the beginning. The 
action of the Turkish Government in regard to the Goeben and 
Breslau could hardly have been possible unless with a previous 
understanding. At last the rupture came. The following was the 
official Turkish version of the events which led to the Turkish 
declaration of war : 

''While on the 27th of October a small part of the Turkish 
fleet was maneuvering on the Black Sea, the Russian fleet, which 
at first confined its activities to following and hindering every 
one of our movements, finally, on the 29th, unexpectedly began 
hostilities by attacking the Ottoman fleet. During the naval 
battle which ensued the Turkish fleet, with the help of the 
Almighty, sank the mine layer Pruth, inflicted severe damage on 
one of the Russian torpedo boats, and captured a collier. A 
torpedo from the Turkish torpedo boat Gairet-i-Millet sank the 
Russian destroyer Koubanietz, and another from the Turkish 
torpedo boat Mouavenet-i-Millet inflicted serious damage on a 
Russian coast guard ship. Three officers and seventy-two sailors 
rescued by our men and belonging to the crews of the damaged 
and sunken vessels of the Russian fleet have been made prisoners. 
The Ottoman Imperial fleet, glory be given to the Almighty, 
escaped injury, and the battle is progressing favorably for us. 
Information received from our fleet, now in the Black Sea, is as 
follows: 

"From accounts of Russian sailors taken prisoners, and from 
the presence of a mine layer among the Russian fleet, evidence 
is gathered that the Russian fleet intended closing the entrance to 
the Bosporus with mines, and destroying entirely the Imperial 
Ottoman fleet, after having spht it in two. Our fleet, beheving 
that it had to face an unexpected attack, and supposing that the 
Russians had begun hostilities without a formal declaration of war, 
pursued the scattered Russian fleet, bombarded the port of Sebas- 
topol, destroyed in the city of Novorossisk fifty petroleum depots, 
fourteen military transports, some granaries, and the wireless 
telegraph station. In addition to the above our fleet has sunk in 




FAMOUS BRITISH GENERALS 

General Smith-Dorrien, British Corps Commander in the famous retreat 
from Mon^; Generals Plumer, Rawhnsonaud Byng, Commanders on the Western 
Front; General Birdwood, Commander of the Austrahan-New Zealand troops 
at Gallipoli. 




FAMOUS FRENCH GENERALS 

Marshal P^tain, Commander-in-Chief of the French armies in the West; 
Generals Mangin, Gouraud and Humbert, Army Commanders in the West; 
General Gallieni, Commander of Paris, who sent forward an army in taxicabs to 
save the day at the First Battle of the Marne. 



THE SUBLIME PORTE 171 

Odessa a Russian cruiser, and damaged severely another. It is 
believed that this second boat was likewise sunk. Five other 
steamers full of cargoes lying in the same port were seriously 
damaged. A steamship belonging to the Russian volunteer fleet 
was also sunk, and five petroleum depots were destroyed. In 
Odessa and Sebastopol the Russians from the shore opened fire 
against our fleet." 

The Sultan at once declared war against Russia, England and 
France, and issued a proclamation to his troops, declaring that he 
had called them to arms to resist aggression and that "the very 
existence of our Empire and of three hundred million Moslems 
whom I have summoned by sacred Fetwa to a supreme struggle, 
depend on your victory. Do not forget that you are brothers 
in arms of the strongest and bravest armies of the world, with 
whom we are now fighting shoulder to shoulder." 

The Fetwa, or proclamation announcing a holy war, called 
upon all Mussulmans capable of carrying arms, and even upon 
Mussulman women to fight against the powers with whom the 
Sultan was at war. In this manner the holy war became a duty, 
not only for all Ottoman subjects, but for the three hundred milhon 
Moslems of the earth. On November 5th Great Britain declared 
war against Turkey, ordered the seizure in British ports of Turkish 
vessels, and, by an order in Council, annexed the Island of Cyprus. 
On the 17th of December, the Khedive Abbas II, having thi'own 
in his lot with Turkey and fled to Constantinople, Egypt was form- 
ally proclaimed a British Protectorate. The title of Khedive was 
abolished, and the throne of Egypt, with the title of Sultan, was 
offered to Prince Hussein Kamel Pasha, the eldest living prince of 
the house of Mahomet Ali, an able and enhghtened man. This 
meant that Britain was now wholly responsible for the defense of 
Egypt. The new Sultan of Egypt made his state entry on Decem- 
ber 20th into the Abdin Palace in Cairo. The progress of the 
new ruler was received with great enthusiasm by thousands of 
spectators. 

The King of England sent a telegram of congratulation with 
his promise of support: 

On the occasion when your Highness enters upon your high office I 
desire to convey to your Highness the expression of my most sincere 
friendship, and the assurance of my unfailing support in safeguarding the 



172 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR 

integrity of Egypt, and in securing her future well being and prosperity. 
Your Highness has been called upon to undertake the responsibilities of 
your high office at a grave crisis in the national life of Egypt, and I feel 
convinced that you will be able, with the co-operation of your Ministers, 
and the Protectorate of Great Britain, successfully to overcome all the 
influences which are seeking to destroy the independence of Egypt and 
the wealth, liberty and happiness of its people. 

This was Britain's answer to the Turkish proclamation of 
war. The Turks had not taken this warlike course with entire 
unanimity. The Sultan, the Grand Vizier, and Djavid Bey were 
in favor of peace, but Enver Pasha and his colleagues overruled 
them. The Odessa incident was unjustified aggression, deliberately 
planned to provoke hostilities. The tricky and corrupt German 
diplomacy had won its point. 

It is interesting to observe that the proclamation of the holy 
war, a favorite German scheme, fell flat. The Kaiser, and his 
advisers, had counted much upon this raising of the sacred flag. 
The Kaiser had visited Constantinople and permitted himseK 
to be exploited as a sympathizer with Mohammedanism. Photo- 
graphs of him had been taken representing him in Mohammedan 
garb, accompanied by Moslem priests, and a report had been 
dehberately circulated throughout Turkey that he had become a 
Moslem. The object of this camouflage was to stir up the 
Mohammedans in the countries controlled by England, risings 
were hoped for in Egypt and India, and German spies had been 
distributed through those countries to encoiu-age religious revolts. 
But there was almost no response. The Sultan, it is true, was the 
head of the Church, but who was the Sultan? The old Sultan, 
now dethroned, and imprisoned, or this new and insignificant 
creatiure placed on the throne by the young Turk party? The 
Mohammedan did not feel himself greatly moved. 

At the beginning of the war Turkey found herself unable to 
make any move to recover her provinces in Thrace. Greece and 
Bulgaria were neutral) and could not be attacked. Placing herself, 
therefore, in the hands of her German advisers, she moved her new 
army to those frontiers where it could meet the powers with whom 
she was at war. In particular Germany and Austria desired her 
aid in Transcaucasia against the Russian armies. An attack 
upon Russia from that quarter would mean that many troops which 



THE SUBLIME PORTE 173 

otherwise would have been used against the Central Powers must 
be sent to the Caucasus. The Suez Canal, too, must be attacked. 
An expedition there would compel Great Britain to send out troops, 
and perhaps would encourage the hoped-for rebellion in Egypt 
and give an opportunity for rehgious insurrection in India, where 
the D jehad was being preached among the Mohammedan tribes 
in the northwest. The Dardanelles, to be sure, might be threat- 
ened, but the Germans had sent there many heavy guns and forti- 
fications had been built which, in expert opinion, made Constanti- 
nople safe. 

The Turkish offensive along her eastern frontier in Trans- 
caucasia and in Persia was first undertaken. The Persian Gulf 
had long been controlled by Great Britain; even in the days of 
Elizabeth the East India Company had fought with Dutch and 
Portuguese rivals for control of its conomerce. The English had 
protected Persia, suppressed piracy and slavery, and introduced 
sanitary measures in the marshes along the coast. They regarded 
a control of the Persian Gulf as necessary for the prosperity of 
India and the Empire. The Turkish Government had never had 
great power along the Persian Gulf. Bagdad, indeed, had been 
captured by Suleiman the Magnificent in the sixteenth century, 
but in eastern Arabia Uved many independent Arabian chieftains 
who had no idea of subjecting themselves to Turkish rule. 

For years Germany had been looking with jealous eyes in this 
direction. Her elaborate intrigues with Turkey were mainly 
designed to open up the way to the Persian Gulf. She had planned 
a great railway to open up trade, and her endeavor to build the 
Bagdad Railway is a story in itself. Her efforts had lasted for 
many years, but she found herself constantly blocked by the agents 
of Great Britain, 

Before the Ottoman troops were ready, the British in the 
Gulf had made a start. On November 7th a British force xmder 
Brigadier-General Delamain bombarded the Turkish fort at Falon, 
landed troops and occupied the village. Sailing north from this 
point they disembai'ked at Sanijah, where they intrenched them- 
selves and waited for reinforcements. On November 13th rein- 
forcements arrived, and on November 17th the British army 
advanced toward Sahain. From there they moved on Sahil, where 
they encountered a Turkish force. Some lively fighting ensued and 



174 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR 

the Turks broke and fled. Turkish casualties were about one 
thousand five hundred men, the English killed numbered thirty-eight. 

The British then moved on Basra, moving by steamer along the 
Shat-el-Arab River. On November 22d Basra was reached and 
it was found that the Turks had evacuated the place. A base 
camp was then prepared, for it was certain that there would be 
further fighting. Bagdad was only about three hundred miles 
distant; and fifty miles above Basra, at the junction of the Tigris 
and the Euphrates, lies the town of Kuma where the Turks were 
gathering an army. On December 4th an attack was made on 
Kurna but, without success. The British obtained reinforcements, 
but on December 9th the Turkish garrison surrendered uncondi- 
tionally. The British troops then intrenched themselves, having 
established a barricade against a hostile advance upon India. 

Farther north the war was between Turkey and Russia. Since 
Persia had no military power, each combatant was able to occupy 
that country whenever they desired. The Turks advanced into 
Persia south of Lake Urmia, and, meeting with no resistance from 
Persia, moved northward toward the Russian frontier. On the 
30th of January, 1915, Russian troops heavily defeated the invaders 
and followed them south as far as Tabriz, which they occupied and 
held. The Russian armies had also undertaken movements in 
this section. In the extreme northwest of Persia a Russian column 
had crossed the frontier, and occupied, on the 3d of November, the 
town of Bayazid close to Mt. Ararat. Other columns entered 
Kurdestan, and an expedition against Van was begun. Further 
north another Russian column crossed the frontier and captured 
the town of Karakihssa, but was held there by the Turks. 

These were minor expeditions. The real struggle was in Trans- 
caucasia, where the main body of the Turkish army under Enver 
Pasha himself was in action. At this point the boundaries of 
Turkey touch upon the Russian Empire. To the north is the 
Great Russian fortress of Kars, to the south and west the Turkish 
stronghold of Erzerum. The whole district is a great mountain 
tangle, the towns standing at an altitude of 5,000 and 6,000 feet, 
surrounded by lofty hills,. None of the roads are good, and in 
winter the passes are almost impassable. In all the wars between 
Russia and Turkey, these mountain regions have been the scenes 
of desperate battles, 



THE SUBLIME PORTE 175 

The Turkish plan of battle was to entice the Russians from 
Sarakamish across the frontier, leading them on to some distance 
from their base, then, while holding their front, a second force was 
to swing around and attack them on the left flank. The plan was 
simple, the difficulty was the swing of the left flank, which had to 
be made through mountain paths, deeply covered with snow. The 
Turkish army was composed of about 150,000 men under the 
command of Hassan Izzet Pasha, but Enver, with a large German 
staff, was the true commander. The Russian army, under General 
Woronzov was about 100,000 men. " _ ' - 

Early in November the Russians crossed the frontier and 
reached Koprikeui, which they occupied on the 20th of November. 
The Turkish Eleventh corps was entrusted with the duty of holding 
the Russian forces; the remainder of the army was to advance 
over the passes and take their stations behind the Russian right. 
On December 25th the Turkish attack began. The Eleventh corps 
forced back the Russians from Koprikeui to Khorasan, while the 
extreme Turkish left was endeavoring to outflank them. But the 
weather was desperate. A blizzard was sweeping down the steeps. 
The Turkish forces were indeed able to carry out the plan, for they 
obtained the position desired. But by this time they were worn out, 
and half starved, and their attack on New Year's Day resulted in 
their defeat and retreat. The Ninth corps was utterly wiped out, 
and the remainder of the Turkish forces driven off in confusion. 
Only the strenuous efforts of the Turkish Eleventh corps prevented 
a debacle. After a three days' battle it, too, was broken, and with 
heavy losses it retreated toward Erzeriun. The snowdrifts and 
blizzards must have accounted for not less than 50,000 of the 
Turkish troops. The result of the battle made Russia safe in the 
Caucasus, \ ^ --'".< 

But the Germans had another use for the Tmrkish forces. 
England was in control of Egypt and the Suez Canal. The German 
view of England's position has been well stated by Dr. Paul 
Rohrbach: 

''As soon as England acquired Egypt it was incumbent upon her 
to guard against any menace from Asia. Such a danger apparently 
arose when Turkey, weakened by her last war with Russia and by 
difficult conditions at home, began to turn to Germany for support. 
And now war has come, and. England is reaping the crops which she 



176 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR 

has sown. England, not we, desired this war. She knows this, 
despite all her hypocritical talk, and she fears that, as soon 
as connection is estabUshed along the Berlin- Vienna-Budapest- 
Sofia-Constantinople Line, the fate of Egypt may be decided. 
Through the Suez Canal goes the route to all the lands surround- 
ing the Indian Ocean, and by way of Singapore to the western 
shores of the Pacific. These two worlds together have about 
nine hundred milHon inhabitants, more than half the popu- 
lation of the universe, and India lies in a controlling position in 
their midst. Should England lose the Suez Canal she will be 
obliged, imlike the powers in control of that waterway, to use the 
long route around the Cape of Good Hope, and depend on the 
good will of the South African Boers. The majority among the 
latter have not the same views as Botha. However, it is too early 
to prophesy, and it is not according to German ideas to imitate 
our opponents by singing premature paeans of victory. But any- 
how we are well aware why anxious England already sees us on 
the road to India." 

Following out this view a Turkish force was directed toward 
the Suez Canal, while the German intriguers did their best to stir 
up revolt in Egypt itself. The story of Egypt is one of the most 
interesting parts of the world's history. In the early days of the 
world it led mankind. Its peculiar geographical position at first 
gave it strength, and afterward made it the prize for which all 
nations were ready to contend. In 1517 the Sultan Selim con- 
quered Egypt and made it part of the Turkish realm, and in spite 
of many changes the sovereignty of Constantinople had continued. 
In recent years the misgovernment of the Kliedive Ismael had 
brought into its control France and Britain; then came the deposi- 
tion of Ismael, the revolt under Arabi, the bombardment of 
Alexandria and the battle of Tel-el-Kebir. Since then Egypt has 
been occupied by Great Britain, who restored order, defeated the 
armies of the Mahdi, and turned Egyptian bankruptcy into 
prosperity. Lord Kitchener was the Enghsh hero of the wars with 
the Mahdi, and Lord Cromer the administrator who gave the 
Egyptian peasant a comfort unknown since the days of the Pharaohs. 
With prosperity came poHtical agitation, and Germany, as has been 
seen, looked upon Egypt as fertile territory for German propaganda. 

Intrigue having failed in Egjrpt, a Tm-kish force was directed 



THE SUBLIME PORTE 177 

against the Suez Canal. If that could be captured Great Britain 
could be cut off from India. An expeditionary army of about 
65,000 men was gathered under the command of Djemal Pasha, 
the former Turkish Minister of Marine. He had been bitterly 
indignant at the seizure of the two Turkish dreadnaughts building 
in England, and was burning for revenge. But he found great 
difficulties before him. To reach the Canal it was necessary to 
cross a trackless desert, varying from 120 to 150 miles in width. 
Over this desert there were three routes. The first touched the 
Mediterranean coast at El-Arish and then went across the desert 
to El-Kantara on the Canal, twenty-five miles south of Port Said. 
On this route there were only a few wells, quite insufficient for an 
army. A second route ran from Akaba, on the Red Sea, across 
the Peninsula of Sinai to a point a Httle north of Suez. This was 
also badly supplied with wells. Between the two was the central 
route. Leaving the Mediterranean at El-Arish it ran up the valley 
called the Wady El-Arish to where that valley touched the second 
road. There was no railway, nor were these roads suitable for 
motor transports; for an army to move it would be necessary 
either to build a railway or to improve the roads. The best route 
for railway was the Wady El-Arish. The Suez Canal, moreover, can 
be easily defended. It is over two hundred feet wide, with banks 
rising to a height of forty feet. A railway runs along the whole 
Canal, and most of the ground to the east is flat, offering a good 
field of fire either to troops on the banks or to ships on the Canal. 
1^ A considerable force of British troops, under the command 
of Major-General Sir John Maxwell, were assigned for the pro- 
tection of the Canal. About the end of October it was reported 
that 2,000 Bedouins were marching on the Canal, and on November 
21st a skirmish took place between this force and some of the 
English troops in which the Bedouins were repelled. Nothing 
more was heard for more than two months, but on January 28, 1915, 
a small advance party from the Turkish army was beaten back 
east of El-Kantara. British airmen watched the desert well, and 
kept the British army well informed of the Turkish movements. 
The Turks had found it impossible to convey their full force across 
the desert, and the forces which finally arrived seemed to have 
numbered only about twelve thousand men. The main attack 
was not developed until February 2d. 



178 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR 

According to an account in the London Times, on that date, 
the enemy began to move toward the IsmaiHa Ferry. They met 
a reconnoitering party of Indian troops of all arms, and a desultory 
engagement ensued to which a violent sandstorm put a sudden end 
about three o'clock in the afternoon. The main attacking force 
pushed forward toward its destination after nightfall. From 
twenty-five to thirty galvanized iron pontoon boats, seven and a 
half meters in length, which had been dragged in carts across the 
desert, were hauled by hand toward the water. With one or two 
rafts made of kerosene tins in a wooden frame, all was ready for 
the attack. The first warning of the enemy's approach was given 
by a sentry of a mountain battery who heard, to him, an unknown 
tongue across the water. The noise soon increased. It would seem 
that Mudjah Ideem — ''Holy Warriors" — said to be mostly old 
Tripoli fighters, accompanied the pontoon section, and regulars 
of the Seventy-fifth regiment, for loud exultations, often in 
Arabic, of ''Brothers, die for the faith; we can die but once," 
betrayed the enthusiastic irregular. 

The Egyptians waited until the Turks were pushing their 
boats into the water, then the Maxims attached to the battery 
suddenly spoke, and the guns opened at point-blank range at the 
men and boats crowded under the steep bank opposite them. 
Inamediately a violent fire broke out on both sides of the Canal. 

A little torpedo boat with a crew of thirteen, patrolling the 
Canal, dashed up and landed a party of four ofiicers and men to the 
south of Tussum, who climbed up the eastern bank and found 
themselves in a Turkish trench, and escaped by a miracle with the 
news. Promptly the midget dashed in between the fires and 
enfiladed the eastern bank amid a hail of bullets, and destroyed 
several pontoon boats lying unlaunched on the bank. It continued 
to harass the enemy, though two ofiicers and two men were 
wounded. 

As the dark, cloudy night lightened toward dawn fresh forces 
went into action. The Turks, who occupied the outer, or day, line 
of the Tussum post, advanced, covered by artillery, against the 
Indian troops, holding the inner or night position, while an Arab 
regiment advanced against the Indian troop at the Serapeum post. 
The warships on the Canal and lake joined in the fray. The enemy 
brought some six batteries of field guns into action from the slopes 



THE SUBLIME PORTE 179 

west of Kataiba-el-kaeli. Shells admirably fused made fine practice 
at all the visible targets, but failed to find the battery above men- 
tioned, which, with some help from a detachment of infantry, beat 
down the fire of the riflemen on the opposite bank and inflicted 
heavy losses on the hostile supports advancing toward the Canal. 

Supported by land and naval artillery the Indian troops took 
the offensive, the Serapeum garrison, which had stopped the enemy 
three-quarters of a mile from the position, cleared its front, and the 
Tussum garrison, by a brilliant counter-attack, drove the enemy 
back. Two battalions of AnatoHans of the Twenty-eighth regi- 
ment were thrown into the fight, but the artillery gave them no 
chance, and by 3.30 in the afternoon a third of the enemy, with the 
exception of a force that lay hid in bushy hollows on the east bank 
between the two posts, were in full retreat, leaving many dead, a 
large proportion of whom had been killed by shrapnel. Meanwhile 
the warships on the lake had been in action, a salvo from a battleship 
woke up Ismailia early, and crowds of soldiers and some civilians 
climbed every available sand hill to see what was doing, till the 
Turkish guns sent shells sufficiently near to convince them that it 
was safer to watch from cover. 

At about eleven in the morning two six-inch shells hit the 
Hardinge near the southern entrance of the lake. They first damaged 
the funnel, and the second burst inboard. Pilot Carew, a gallant 
old merchant seaman, refused to go below when the firing opened 
and lost a leg. Nine others were wounded, one or two merchant- 
men were hit but no fives were lost. A British gunboat was 
struck. Then came a dramatic duel between the Turkish big 
gun, or guns, and a warship. The Turks fired just over, and then 
just short, at 9,000 yards. The warship sent in a salvo of more 
six-inch shells than had been fired that day. 

Late in the afternoon of the 3d there was sniping from the 
east bank between Tussum and Serapeum, and a man was killed 
on the tops of a British battleship. Next morning the sniping was 
renewed and the Indian troops, moving out to search the ground, 
found several hundred of the enemy in the hollow previously men- 
tioned. During the fighting some of the enemy, either by accident 
or design, held up their hands, while others fired on the Punjabis, 
who were advancing to take the surrender, and killed a British 
ofiicer. A sharp fight with the cold steel followed, and a British 



180 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR 

officer killed a Turkish officer with a sword thrust in single combat. 
A body of a German officer with a white flag was afterward found 
here, but there is no proof that the white flag was used. Finally all 
the enemy were kiUed, captured or put to ffight. With this the 
fighting ended, and the subsequent operations were confined to the 
rounding up of prisoners, and the capture of a considerable amount 
of mihtary material left behind. The Tiu-ks, who departed with 
their guns and baggage during the night of the 3d, still seemed 
to be moving eastward. 

So ended the battle of the Suez Canal. 

Two more incidents in the Turkish campaign remain to be 
noticed. Report having come that the town of Akaba on the 
Red Sea was being used as a mine-laying station, H. M. S. Minerva 
visited the place, and found it occupied by soldiers under a German 
officer. The Minerva destroyed the fort and the barracks and the 
government buildings. Another British cruiser, with a detachment 
of Indian troops, captured the Tiu-kish fort at Sheik Said, at the 
southern end of the Red Sea. And so for the time ended all Turkish 
movements against Great Britain. That such movements should 
have been possible seems hard to beUeve. For a centm-y the 
British had been the friends and alHes of the Turkish Government. 
In the Crimean War their armies had fought side by side with the 
Turkish troops against Russia. In the Russo-Turkish War Lord 
Beaconsfield, in the negotiations which preceded the treaty of 
Berlin, had saved for Turkey much of its territory. It was only the 
British influence and the fear of the British power which had pre- 
vented Russia from taking possession of Constantinople a half a 
century before. The English had always been popular in Turkey 
and there was every reason at the beginning of the war to beUeve 
that their popularity had not waned. There is reason to believe 
that the average Tm-k had Httle sympathy with the course of his 
government, and if a free expression of the popular will had been 
possible the Turkish army would never have been sent against 
either the EngHshmen or the Frenchmen. But long years of 
German propaganda had done their work. The power of Enver 
Pasha was greater than that of the weakling Sultan and the war 
was forced upon the Turkish people by German tools and German 
bribes. 



CHAPTER XII 
Rescue of the Stakving 

THE sufferings of Belgium during the German occupation 
were terrible, and attracted the attention and the sym- 
pathy of the whole world. To understand conditions it is 
necessary to know something of the economic situation. 
Since it had come under the protection of the Great Powers, Bel- 
gium had developed into one of the greatest manufacturing coun- 
tries in the world. Nearly two million of her citizens were employed 
in the great industries, and one milUon two hundred thousand on 
the farms. She was peaceful, industrious and happy. But on 
account of the fact that more than one-half of her citizenship 
earned their living by daily labor she found it impossible to pro- 
duce foodstuff enough for her own needs. Seventy-eight per 
cent of her breadstuffs had to be imported. From her own fields 
she could hardly supply her population for more than four months. 
The war, and the German occupation, almost destroyed busi- 
ness. Mines, workshops^ factories and mills were closed. Labor 
found itself without employment and consequently without wages. 
The banks would extend no credit. But even if there had been 
money enough it soon became apparent that the food supply was 
rapidly going. The German invasion had come when the crops 
were standing ripe upon the field. Those crops had not been 
reaped, but had been trampled under foot by the hated German. 

One feature of Belgian industrial life should be understood. 
Hundreds of thousands of her workmen were employed each day 
in workshops at considerable distances from their own homes. 
In times of peace the morning and evening trains were always 
crowded with laborers going to and returning from their daily 
toil. One of the first things seized upon by the German officials 
was the railroads, and it was with great difficulty that anyone, 
not belonging to the German army, could obtain an opportunity 
to travel at all, and it was with still greater difficulty that supplies 
of food of any kind could be transported from place to place. 

181 



18^ HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR 

Every village was cut off from its neighbor, every town from the 
next town. People were unable even to obtain news of the great 
pohtical events which were occurring from day to day, and the 
food supply was automatically cut off. 

But this was not the worst. One of the first moves of the Ger- 
man occupation was to quarter hundreds of thousands of troops 
upon their Belgian victims, and these troops must be fed even 
though the Belgian and his family were near starvation. Then 
followed the German seizure of what they called materials for war. 
General von Beseler in a despatch to the Kaiser, after the fall of 
Antwerp, speaks very plainly: 

The war booty taken at Antwerp is enormous — at least five hundred 
cannon and huge quantities of ammunition, sanitation materials, high- 
power motor cars, locomotives, wagons, four million kilograms of wheat, 
large quantities of flour, coal and flax wool, the value of which is estimated 
at ten million marks, copper, silver, one armored train, several hospital 
trains, and quantities of fish. 

The Germans proceeded to commandeer foodstuffs and raw 
materials of industry. Linseed oil, oil cakes, nitrates, animal and 
vegetable oils, petroleum and mineral oils, wool, copper, rubber, 
ivory, cocoa, rice, wine, beer, all were seized and sent home to the 
Fatherland. Moreover, cities and provinces were burdened with 
formidable war contributions. Brussels was obliged to pay ten 
million dollars, Antwerp ten milUon dollars, the province of Bra- 
bant, ninety millions of dollars, Namiu* and seventeen surrounding 
communes six miUion four hundred thousand dollars. Finally 
Governor von Bissing, on the 10th of December, 1914, issued the 
following decree: 

A war contribution of the amount of eight miUion dollars to be paid 
monthly for one year is imposed upon the population of Belgium. The 
payment of these amounts is imposed upon the nine provinces which 
are regarded as joint debtors. The two first monthly payments are to 
be made by the 15th of January, 1915, at latest, and the foHowing monthly 
payments by the tenth of each following month to the military chest of 
the Field Army of the General Imperial Government in Brussels. If the 
provinces are obliged to resort to the issue of stock with a view to pro- 
curing the necessary funds, the form and terms of these shares will be 
determined by the Commissary General for the banks in Belgium. 

At a meeting of the Provincial Councils the vice-president 
declared: ''The Germans demand these $96,000,000 of the 



RESCUE OF THE STARVING 183 

country without right and without reason. Are we to sanction 
this enormous war tax? If we Hstened only to our hearts, we 
should reply ' No ! ninety-six million times no ! ' because our hearts 
would tell us we were a small, honest nation living happily by its 
free labor; we were a small, honest nation having faith in treaties 
and believing in honor; we were a nation unarmed, but full of 
confidence, when Germany suddenly hurled two milUon men 
upon our frontiers, the most brutal army that the world has ever 
seen, and said to us, ' Betray the promise you have given. Let my 
armies go by, that I may crush France, and I will give you gold/ 
Belgium replied, 'Keep your gold. I prefer to die, rather than 
hve without honor.' The German army has, therefore, crushed 
our country in contempt of solemn treaties. 'It is an injustice,' 
said the Chancellor of the German Empire. 'The position of 
Germany has forced us to commit it, but we will repair the wrong 
we have done to Belgium by the passage of our armies.' They 
want to repair the injustice as follows: Belgium will pay Germany 
$96,000,000! Give this proposal yoiw vote. When GaUleo had 
discovered the fact that the earth moved around the sun, he was 
forced at the foot of the stake to abjure his error, but he murmured, 
'Nevertheless it moves.' Well, gentlemen, as I fear a still greater 
misfortune for my country I consent to the payment of the 
$96,000,000 and I cry 'Nevertheless it moves.' Long live our 
country in spite of all." 

At the end of a year von Bissing renewed this assessment, 
inserting in his decree the statement that the decree was based 
upon article forty-nine of The Hague Convention, relating to the 
laws and usages of war on land. This article reads as follows: 
"If in addition to the taxes mentioned in the above article the 
occupant levies other moneyed contributions in the occupied terri- 
tory, they shall only be applied to the needs of the army, or of the 
administration, of the territory in question." In the preceding 
article it says: , "If in the territory occupied the occupant collects^ 
the taxes, dues and tolls payable to the state, he shall do so as 
far as possible in accordance with the legal basis and assessment 
in force at the time, and shall in consequence be bound to defray 
the expenses of the administration of the occupied territories to 
the same extent as the National Government had been so 
bound." 



184 



HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR 



The $96,000,000 per annum was more than six times the amount 
of the direct taxes formerly collected by the Belgian state, taxes 
which the German administration, moreover, collected in addition 
to the war assessment. It was five tunes as great as the ordinary 
expenditure of the Belgian War Department. 




SCHLESWIG-HOLSTEIN AND AlSACE-LoRBAINB ACQUISITIONS 



But this was not all. In addition to the more or less legitimate 
German methods of plunder the whole country had been pillaged. 
In many towns systematic pillage began as soon as the Germans 
took possession. At Louvain the pillage began on the 27th of 
August, 1914, and lasted a week. In small bands the soldiers 
went from house to house, ransacked drawers and cupboards, 
broke open safes, and stole money, pictures, curios, silver, linen, 
clothing, wines, and food. Great loads of such plunder were 



RESCUE OF THE STARVING 185 

packed on military baggage wagons and sent to Germany. The 
same conditions were reported from town after town. In many 
cases the houses were burnt to destroy the proof of extensive thefts. 

Nor were these offenses committed only by the common sol- 
diers. In many cases the officers themselves sent home great 
collections of plunder. Even the Royal Family were concerned in 
this disgraceful performance. After staying for a week in a 
chateau in the Liege District, His Imperial Highness, Prince Eitel 
Fritz, and the Duke of Brunswick, had all the dresses which were 
found in a wardrobe sent back to Germany. This is said to be 
susceptible of absolute proof. 

In addition to this form of plunder special pretexts were made 
use of to obtain money. At Arlon a telephone wire was broken, 
whereupon the town was given four hours to pay a fine of $20,000 
in gold, in default of which one hundred houses would be sacked. 
When the payment was made forty-seven houses had already 
been plundered. Instance after instance could be given of similar 
unjustifiable and exorbitant fines. 

Under treatment like this Belgium was brought in a short 
time into inunediate sight of starvation. They made frantic 
appeals for help. First they appealed to the Germans, but the 
German authorities did nothing, though in individual cases German 
soldiers shared their army rations with the people. Then an 
appeal was made to Holland, but Holland was a nation much like 
Belgium. It did not raise food enough for itself, and was not sure 
that it could import enough for its own needs. 

From all over Belgium appeals were sent from the various 
towns and villages to Brussels. But Brussels, too, was face to 
face with famine. To cope with famine there were many relief 
organizations in Belgium. Every little town had its relief com- 
mittee, and in the larger cities strong branches of the Red Cross 
did what they could. Besides such secular organizations, there 
were many religious organizations, generally under the direction 
of the Roman Catholic Church. 

In Brussels a strong volunteer rehef organization was formed 
on September 6th under the patronage of the American and 
Spanish Ministers, Mr. Brand Whitlock and the Marquis of Villa- 
lobar. This committee, known as the Central Relief Committee, 
or more exactly La Comite Central de Secours et d' Alimentation 



186 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR 

pour 1' Agglomeration bruxelloise, did wonderful work until the 
end of the war. But though there was plenty of organization 
there were great difficulties ahead. 

In order to import food, credit had to be estabUshed abroad, 
permission had to be obtained to transport food stuffs into Belgium 
through the British blockade. Permission to use the railroads 
and canals of Belgium had to be obtained from Germany, and, 
most important of all, it had to be made certain that no food thus 
imported should be seized by the German troops. 

Through the American and Spanish ministers permission was 
obtained from Governor-General Kolmar von der Goltz to import 
food, and the Governor-General also gave assurance that, "Food- 
stuffs of all sorts imported by the committee to assist the civil 
population shall be reserved exclusively for the nourishment of the 
civil population of Belgium, and that consequently these foodstuffs 
shall be exempt from requisition on the part of the miUtary author- 
ities, and shall rest exclusively at the disposition of the committee." 

With this assurance the Central Relief Committee sent Emil 
Francqui and Baron Lambert, members of their committee, together 
with Mr. Hugh Gibson, secretary of the American Legation, whose 
activities in behalf of Belgium attracted much favorable notice, 
to the city of London, to explain to the British Government the 
suffering that existed in Belgium, and to obtain permission to 
transport food through the British blockade. In the course of this 
work they appealed to the American Ambassador in England, Mr. 
Walter Hines Page, and were introduced by him to an American 
mining engineer named Herbert Clark Hoover, who had just become 
prominent as the chairman of a committee to assist Americans 
who had found themselves in Europe when the war broke out, and 
had been unable to secure funds. 

Mr. Hoover took up the matter with great vigor, and organized 
an American conamittee under the patronage of the ministers of 
the United States and of Spain in London, BerHn, The Hague and 
Brussels, which committee obtained permission from the British 
Government to purchase and transport through the British blockade, 
to Rotterdam, Holland, cargoes of foodstuffs, to be ultimately 
transferred into Belgium and distributed by the Belgian Central 
Relief Committee under the direction of American citizens headed 
by Mr. Brand Whitlock. 




AN AIRPLANE CONVOY 
Food ships successfully convoyed by seaplanes in clear weather when submarines 

were easier to detect. 




a" (U o 
03 03 ffl 

i .1 
ttCm 



RESCUE OF THE STARVING 189 

The following brief notices, in connection with this committee 
appeared in the London Times: 

October ,24 1914. — A commission has been set up in London, under 
the title of The American Commission for Relief in Belgium. The 
Brussels committee reports feeding 300,000 daily. 

November 4. — The Commission for ReHef in Belgium yesterday 
issued their first weekly report, 3 London Wall Buildings. A cargo was 
received yesterday at Brussels just in time. Estimated monthly require- 
ments, 60,000 tons grain, 15,000 tons maize, 3,000 tons rice and peas. 
Approved by the Spanish and American ministers, Brussels. 

The personality of the various gentlemen who devoted them- 
selves to Belgian relief is interesting, not only because of what 
they did, but because they are unusual men. The Spanish Minister, 
who bore the peculiar name of Marquis of Villalobar y O'Neill, 
had the appearance of an Irishman, as he was on the maternal side, 
and was a trained diplomat, with delightful manners and extraor- 
dinary strength of character. Another important aid in the 
Belgian relief work was the Mexican Charge d' Affaires Senor 
don German BuUe. Hugh Gibson, secretary of the American 
Legation, wittily described this gentleman as the ''representative of 
a country without a government to a government without a coun- 
try." The businessman in the American Legation was this secre- 
tary. Mr. Gibson had the appearance of a typical Yankee, though 
he came from Indiana. He was about thirty years old, with dark 
eyes, crisp hair, and a keen face. He was noted for his wit as well 
as his courage. Many interesting stories are told of him. He had 
been often under fire, and he was full of stories of his exploits 
told in a witty and modest way. 

The following incident shows something of his humor. Like 
most of the Americans in Belgium he was followed by spies. With 
one of these Gibson became on the most familiar terms, much to 
the spy's disgust. One very rainy day, when Gibson was at the 
Legation, he discovered his pet spy standing under the dripping 
eaves of a neighboring house. Gibson picked up a raincoat and 
hurried over to the man. 

"Look here, old fellow," said he, "I'm going to be in the 
Legation for three hours. You put on this coat and go home. 
Come back in three hours and I'll let you watch me for the rest of 
the day." 



190 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR 

Mr. Brand Whitlock, the American Minister, was a remarkable 
man. Before coming to Belgium he had become a distinguished man 
of letters. Beginning as a newspaper reporter in Chicago, he had 
studied law and been admitted to the Illinois Bar in 1894, and to 
the Bar of the State of Ohio in 1897. He had entered into politics, 
and been elected mayor of Toledo, Ohio, in 1905, again in 1907, 
1909 and 1911. Meanwhile he had been writing novels, "The 
Thirteenth District," "The Turn of the Balance," "The Fall Guy," 
and "Forty Years of It." He had accepted the appointment of 
American Minister to Belgium with the idea that he would find 
leisure for^other literary work, but the outbreak of the war affected 
him deeply. A man of a sympathetic character who had lived all 
his Hfe in an amiable atmosphere, had been a member of prison 
reform associations and charitable societies, he now found him- 
self surrounded by a storm of horrors. Day by day he had to see 
the distress and suffering of thousands of people. He threw him- 
self at once into the work of relief. His health was not strong and 
he always looked tired and worn. He was the scholarly type of 
man, the kind who would be happy in a Hbrary, or in the atmosphere 
of a college, but he rose to the emergency. 

The American Legation became the one staple point around 
which the starving and suffering population could rally. Belgians 
will never forget what he did in those days. On Washington's 
Birthday they filed before the door of the American Legation at 
Nimaber 74 Rue de Treves, men, women and children of all classes; 
some in furs, some in the garments of the poor; noblemen, scholars, 
workmen, artists, shopkeepers and peasants to leave their visiting 
cards, some engraved, some printed and some written on pieces of 
paper, in tribute to Mr. Whitlock and the nation which he 
represented. 

But the man whose name stands out above all others as one 
of the biggest figures in connection with the work of relief was 
Mr. Herbert C. Hoover. Mr. Hoover came of Quaker stock. 
He was bom at West Branch, Iowa, in 1874, graduated from 
Leland Stanford University in 1895, specialized in mining engineer- 
ing, and spent several years in mining in the United States and 
in Australia. He married Miss Lou Henry, of Monterey, California, 
in 1899, and with his bride went to China as chief engineer of 
the Chinese Imperial Bureau of Mines. He aided in the defense 



RESCUE OF THE STARVING 191 

of Tientsin during the Boxer Rebellion. After that he continued 
engineering work in China until 1902, when he became a partner 
of the firm of Bewick, Moreing & Co., mine operators, of London, 
and was consulting engineer for more than fifty mining companies. 
He looked extremely youthful; smooth shaven, with a straight 
nose, and a strong mouth and chin. To him, more than any one 
else, was due the creation and the success of the Commission for 
Relief in Belgium. The splendid organization which saved from 
so much suffering more than seven million non-combatants in 
Belgium and two million in Northern France, was his achievement. 

A good story is told in the Outlook of September 8, 1915, which 
illustrates his methods. It seems that before the commission was 
fairly on its feet, there came a day when it was a case of snarling 
things in red tape and letting Belgium starve, or getting food shipped 
and letting governments howl. Hoover naturally chose the latter. 

When the last bag had been stowed and the hatches were 
battened down (writes Mr. Lewis R. Freeman, who tells the story), 
Hoover went in person to the one Cabinet Minister able to arrange 
for the only things he could not provide for himself — clearance 
papers. 

"If I do not get four cargoes of food to Belgium by the end 
of the week," he said bluntly, "thousands are going to die from 
starvation, and many more may be shot in food riots." 

"Out of the question," said the distinguished Minister; "there 
is no time, in the first place, and if there was, there are no good 
wagons to be spared by the railways, no dock hands, and no 
steamers. Moreover, the Channel is closed'for a week to merchant 
vessels, while troops are being transferred to the Continent." 

"I have managed to get all these things,'' Hoover replied 
quietly, "and am now through with them all, except the steamers. 
This wire tells me that these are now loaded and ready to sail, 
and I have come to have you arrange for their clearance." 

The great man gasped. "There have been — there are even 
now — ^men in the Tower for less than you have done!" he ejaculated. 
"If it was for anything but Belgium ReHef — ^if it was anybody 
but you, young man — I should hate to think of what might happen. 
As it is — er — I suppose there is nothing to do but congratulate 
you on a jolly clever coup. I'll see about the clearance at once." 

Mr. Lloyd George tells the following story: It seems that the 



192 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR 

Commission on Belgian Relief was attempting to simplify its work 
by arranging for an extension of exchange facilities on Brussels. 
Mr. Lloyd George, then Chancellor of the Exchequer, sent for 
Hoover. What happened is told in Mr. George's words : 

'''Mr. Hoover/ I said, 'I find I am quite unable to grant your 
request in the matter of Belgian exchange, and I have asked you 
to come here that I might explain why.' 

''Without waiting for me to go on, my boyish-looking caller 
began speaking. For fifteen minutes he spoke without a break — 
just about the clearest expository utterance I have ever heard 
on any subject. He used not a word too much, nor yet a word 
too few. By the time he had finished I had come to realize, not 
only the importance of his contentions, but, what was more to the 
point, the practicability of granting his request. So I did the only 
thing possible under the circumstance, told him I had never under- 
stood the question before, thanked him for helping me to under- 
stand, and saw to it that things were arranged as he wanted them." 

On April 10, 1915, a submarine torpedoed one of the food 
ships chartered by the commission. A week later a German hydro- 
airplane tried to drop bombs on the deck of another commission 
ship. So Hoover paid a flying visit to BerHn. He was at once 
assured that no more incidents of the sort would occur. 

"Thanks," said Hoover. ''Your Excellency, have you heard 
the story of the man who was nipped by a bad-tempered dog? 
He went to the owner to have the dog muzzled. 'But the dog 
won't bite you,' insisted the owner. 'You know he won't bite 
me, and I know he won't bite me,' said the injured party doubt- 
fully, 'but the question is, does the dog know?' " 

"Herr Hoover," said the high official, "pardon me if I leave 
you for a moment. I am going at once to 'let the dog know.' " 

This story, which is told by Mr. Edward Eyre Hunt in his 
delightful book about Belgium, "War Bread," may be apocryphal, 
but it illustrates well Hoover's habit of getting exactly what he 
wants. 

When Mr. Hoover accepted the chairmanship of the Commis- 
sion for ReHef in Belgium he estabhshed his headquarters at 3 
London Wall Buildings, London, England, and marshaled a small 
legion of fellow Americans, business men, sanitary experts, doctors 
and social workers, v/ho, as unpaid volunteers, set about the great 



RESCUE OE THE STARVING 193 

task of feeding the people of Belgium and Northern France. The 
commission soon became a great institution, recognized by all 
governments, receiving contributions from all parts of the earth, 
with its own ships in every big port, and in the eyes of the Belgians 
and French, who received their daily bread through its agency, 
a monument of what Americans could do in social organization 
and business efficiency, for Americans furnished the entire per- 
sonnel of the commission from the beginning. 

The commission was a distinct organization from the Belgian 
National Committee, through and with which it worked in Belgium 
itself. Its functions were those of direction, and supervision of all 
matters that had to be dealt with outside Belgium. In the occupied 
territories it had the help of thousands of Belgian and French 
workers, many of them women. 

The commission did not depend, according to Mr. Hoover, 
on any one of its American members for leadership. Any one of 
them could at any time take charge and carry on the work. 
"Honold, Poland, Gregory, Brown, Kellogg, Lucey, White, Hun- 
siker, Connet, and many others who, at various periods, have given 
of their great abihty and experience in administration could do it." 
At the same time it was admitted that the commission would 
never have been so successful if Belgium had not already had in 
existence a well-developed communal system. The base of the 
commission's organization was a committee in every commune 
or municipality. 

"You can have no idea what a great blessing it was in Belgium 
and Northern France to have the small and intimate divisions 
which exist under the conunxmal system," said Mr. Hoover. ''It 
is the whole unit of life, and a poHtical entity much more developed 
than in America. It has been not only the basis of our reUef 
organization, but the salvation of the people." 

Altogether there were four thousand communal committees, 
Unked up in larger groups under district and provincial committees, 
which in turn came under the Belgian National Committee. Con- 
tributions were received from all over the world, but the greater 
part from the British and French governments. 

When Mr. Hoover began his work he appealed to the people 
of the United States, but the American response to the appeal 
was sadly disappointing. During his stay in America, in the early 



194 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR 

part of 1917, Mr. Hoover expressed himseK on the subject of his 
own country's niggardliness, pointing out at the same time that 
the chief profits made out of providing food for Belgium had gone 
into American pockets. Out of the two hundred and fifty millions 
of dollars spent by the commission at that time, one hundred and 
fifty millions had been used in the United States to purchase supplies 
and on these orders America had made a war profit of at least 
thirty miUion dollars. Yet in those two years the American people 
had contributed only nine million dollars! 

Mr. Hoover declared: "Thousands of contributions have 
come to us from devoted people all over the United States, but 
the truth is that, with the exception of a few large gifts, American 
contributions have been Httle rills of charity of the poor toward 
the poor. Everywhere abroad America has been getting the 
credit for keeping aHght the lamp of humanity, but what are the 
facts? America's contributions have been pitifully inadequate 
and, do not forget it, other peoples have begun to take stock of 
us. We have been getting all the credit. Have we deserved it? 
We lay claim to ideahsm, to devotion to duty and to great benevo- 
lence, but now the acid test is being appHed to us. This has a 
wider import than mere figures. Time and time again, when the 
door to Belgium threatened to close, we have defended its portals 
by the assertion that this was an American enterprise; that the 
sensibiUties of the American people would be wounded beyond 
measure, would be outraged, if this work were interfered with. 
Our moral strength has been based upon this assertion. I beHeve 
it is true, but it is diflicult in the face of the figures to carry con- 
viction. And in the last six or eight months time and again we 
have felt our influence slip from under us." 

The statement that Germans had taken food intended for 
the Belgians was disposed of by Mr. Hoover in a speech in New 
York City. *'We are satisfied," he said, "that the German army 
has never eaten one-tenth of one per cent of the food provided. 
The Allied governments never would have supplied us with two 
hundred milhon dollars if we were supplying the German army. 
If the Germans had absorbed any considerable quantity of this 
food the population of Belgium would not be alive today." 

The plan of operation of the Belgian Commission needs some 
description. Besides the headquarters in London there was an 



RESCUE OF THE STARVING 195 

office in Brussels, and, as Rotterdam was the port of entry for all 
Belgian supplies, a transshipping office for commission goods 
was opened in that city. The office building was at 98 Haring- 
vliet, formerly the residence of a Dutch merchant prince. 

Captain J. F. Lucey, the first Rotterdam director, sat in a 
roomy office on the second floor overlooking the Meuse. From 
his windows he could see the commission barges as they left for 
Belgium, their huge canvas flags bearing the inscription "Belgian 
Relief Committee." He was a nervous, big, beardless American, 
a volunteer who had left his business to organize and direct a 
great transshipping office in an aUen land for an alien people. 

Out of nothing he created a large staff of clerks, wrung from 
the Dutch Government special permits, loaded the immense cargoes 
received from England into canal boats, obtained passports for 
cargoes and crews, and shipped the foodstuffs consigned personally 
to Mr. Brand Whitlock. 

Something of what was done at this point may be understood 
from a reference in the first annual report of the commission pub- 
Hshed October 31, 1915: 

The chartering and management of an entire fleet of vessels, together 
with agency control practically throughout the world, has been carried 
out for the commission quite free of the usual charges by large trans- 
portation firms who offered these concessions in the cause of humanity. 
Banks generally have given their exchange services and have paid the 
full rate of interest on deposits. Insurance has been facilitated by the 
British Government Insurance Commissioners, and the firms who fixed 
the insurance have subscribed the equivalent of their fees. Harbor dues 
and port charges have been remitted at many points and stevedoring 
firms have made important concessions in rates and have afforded other 
generous services. In Holland, exemption from harbor dues and tele- 
graph tolls has been granted and rail transport into Belgium provided 
free of charge. The total value of these Dutch concessions is estimated 
at 147,824 guilders. The German military authorities in Belgium have 
abolished custom and canal dues on all commission imports, have reduced 
railway rates one-half and on canals and railways they give right of way 
to commission foodstuffs wherever there is need. 

By mid-November gift ships from the United States were 
on their way to Rotterdam, but the Canadian province of Nova 
Scotia was first in the transatlantic race. 

One of the most thrilling experiences of the first year's work 
was the coming of the Christmas ship, a steamer full of Christmas 



196 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR 

gifts presented by the children of America to the children of war- 
ridden Belgium. The children knew all about it long before the 
ship arrived in Rotterdam. St. Nicholas' day had brought them 
few presents. They were hungry for friendliness; and the thought 
of getting gifts from children across the sea filled them with joy. 

Many difficulties arose, which delayed the distribution of 
these gifts. The Germans insisted that every package should be 
opened and every scrap of writing taken out before the gifts were 
sent into Belgium. This was a tremendous task, for notes written 
by American children were tucked away into all sorts of impos- 
sible places. 

Three motor boats made an attempt to carry these gifts into 
Belgium by Christmas day. They carried boxes of clothing, out- 
fits for babies, blankets, caps, bonnets, cloaks, shoes of every 
description, babies' boots, candy, fish, striped candy canes, choco- 
lates and mountains of nuts, nuts such as the Belgians had never 
seen in their lives before: pecans, hickory nuts, American walnuts, 
and peanuts galore. There were scores of dolls, French bisques, 
smiling pleasantly, pop-eyed rag dolls, old darky mammy dolls, 
and Santa Clauses, teddy bears, pictm-e books, fairy books and 
story books. 

One child had written on the cover of her book: ''Father 
says I ought to send you my best picture book, but I think that 
this one will do." 

These gi^i/S made the American aid to Belgium a thousand 
times more intimate and real, and never after that was American 
help thought of in other terms than those of burning gratitude. 
Among these gifts were hundreds of American flags, which soon 
became familiar to all Belgium. 

The commission automobiles bore the flag, and the children 
would recognize the Stars and Stripes and wave and cheer as it 
went by. Thousands upon thousands of gifts to the Belgian people 
followed the Christmas ship. All, or a great part, of the cargoes 
of one hundred and two ships consisted of gift goods from America 
and indeed from all parts of the world, and the Belgians sent back 
a flood of acknowledgments and thousands of beautiful souvenirs. 
Some of the most touching remembrances came from the children. 
Every child in the town of Tamise, for example, wrote a letter to 
America. 



RESCUE OF THE STARVING / 197 

One addressed to the President of the United States reads as 
follows: 

Highly Honored Mr. President: Although I am still very yoiing I 
feel already that feeling of thankfulness which we, as Belgians, owe to 
you. Highly Honored Mr. President, because you have come to our help 
in these dreary times. Without your help there would certainly have 
been thousands of war victims, and so. Noble Sir, I pray that God will 
bless you and aU the noble American people. That is the wish of all the 
Belgian folk. 

On New Year's day Cardinal Mercier, Archbishop of Malines, 
issued his famous pastoral: 

Belgium gave her word of honor to defend her independence. She 
has kept her word. The other powers had agreed to protect and to 
respect Belgium's neutrality. Germany has broken her word, England 
has been faithful to it. These are the facts. I consider it an obHgation 
of my pastoral charge to define to you your conscientious duties toward 
the power which has invaded our soil, and which for the moment occupies 
the greater part of it. This power has no authority, and, therefore, in the 
depth of your heart, you should render it neither esteem, nor attachment, 
nor respect. The only legitimate power in Belgium is that which belongs 
to our King, to his government, to the representatives of the nation; 
that alone is authority for us; that alone has a right to our heart's 
affection and to our submission. 

Cardinal Mercier was called the bravest man in Belgium. 
Six feet five in height, a thin, scholarly face, with grayish white 
hair, and a forehead so white that one feels one looks on the naked 
bone, he presented the appearance of some medieval ascetic. But 
there was a humorous look about his mouth, and an expression of 
sympathy and comprehension which gave the effect of a keenly 
intelligent, as well as gentle, leader of the nation. 

At the beginning of the war the Roman Catholic party was 
divided. Some of its leaders were opposed to resistance to the 
invaders. Many priests fled before the German armies. But the 
pastoral letter of Cardinal Mercier restored to the Church its old 
leadership. In him conquered Belgium had found a voice. 

On New Year's Sunday, 1915, every priest at the Mass read 
out the Cardinal's ringing challenge. There were German soldiers 
in the churches, but no word of the letter had been allowed to 
reach the ears of the authorities, and the Germans were taken com- 
pletely by surprise. Immediately orders came from headquarters 



198 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR 

prohibiting further circulation of the letter, and ordering that 
every copy should be siuTendered to the authorities. Soldiers 
at the bayonet's point extorted the letter from the priests, and 
those who had read it were put under arrest. Yet, somehow, copies 
of the letter were circulated throughout Belgium, and every Belgian 
took new heart. 

As far as the Cardinal was concerned German action Vv^as a 
very deHcate matter. They could not arrest and imprison so gi-eat 
a dignitary of the Church for fear of the effect, not only upon the 
CathoHcs of the outer world, but on the Catholics in their own 
empire. An officer was sent to the Cardinal to demand that the 
letter be recalled. The Cardinal refused. He was then notified 
that it was desired that he remain in his palace for the present. 
His confinement lasted only for a day. 

The Americans who were in Belgium as representatives of the 
Relief Commission had two duties. First, to see that the Germans 
did not seize any of the food supplies, and second, to see that every 
Belgian who v/as in need should receive his daily bread. The 
ration assigned to each Belgian was 250 grams of bread per day. 
This seems rather small, but the figure was established by Horace 
Fletcher, the American food expert, who was one of the members 
of the commission. 

Mr. Fletcher also prepared a pamphlet on food values, which 
gave recipes for American dishes which were up to that time un- 
known to the Belgians. He soon got not only the American but the 
Blegian committeemen talking of calories with great famiharity. 

Some of the foods sent from America were at first almost 
useless to the Belgians. They did not know how to cook corn- 
meal and oatmeal, and some of the famished peasants used them 
as feed for chickens. Teachers had to be sent out through the 
villages to give instructions. 

A great deal of difficulty developed in connection with the 
bread. The supply of white flour was limited; wheat had to be 
imported, and milled in Belgium. It was milled so as to contain all 
the bran except ten pei; cent, but in some places ten or fifteen per 
cent of cornmeal was added to the flour, not only to enable the 
commission to provide the necessary ration, but also to keep down 
the price. As a result the price of bread was always lower in 
Belgium than in London, Paris or New York. 



RESCUE OF THE STARVING 199 

Much less trouble occurred in connection with the distribu- 
tion of bread and soup from the soup kitchens. In Antwerp 
thirty-five thousand men were fed daily at these places. At first 
it often occurred that soup could be had, but no bread. The 
ration of soup and bread given in the kitchens cost about ten cents 
a day. There were four varieties of soup, pea, bean, vegetable 
and bouillon, and it was of excellent quality. Every person carried 
a card with blank spaces for the date of the deliveries of soup. 
There were several milk kitchens maintained for the children, 
and several restaurants where persons with money might obtain 
their food. 

It was necessary not only to fight starvation in Belgium but also 
disease. There were epidemics of typhoid and black measles. 
The Rockefeller Foundation established a station in R,otterdam 
called the Rockefeller Foundation "War Relief Commission, and 
some of the women among its workers acted as volunteer health 
officers. People were inoculated against typhoid, and the sources 
of infection traced and destroyed. Another form of relief work 
was providing labor for the unemployed. A plan of rehef was 
drawn up and it was arranged that a large portion of them should 
be employed by the communal organizations, in public works, 
such as draining, ditching, constructing embankments and build- 
ing sewers. The National Committee paid nine-tenths of the 
wages, the commune paying the other tenth. The first enrol- 
ment of unemployed amounted to more than 760,000 names, and 
nearly as many persons were dependent upon these workers. 

Providing employment for these led to certain complications. 
The Germans had been able up to this time to secure a certain 
amount of labor from the Belgians. Now the Belgian could refuse 
to work for the German, and a great deal of tact was necessary 
to prevent trouble. As time went on the relief work of the com- 
mission was extended into the north of France, where a population 
of more than 2,000,000 was within the German zone. The work 
was handled in the same way, with the same guarantees from 
Germany. 

In conclusion a word may be said of the effect of all this suffer- 
ing upon the Belgian people, and let a Belgian speak, who knew 
his country well and had traveled it over, going on foot, as he 
says, or by tram, from town to town, from village to village : 



200 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR 

"I have seen and spoken with hundreds of men of all classes 
and all parts of the country, and all these people, taken singly or 
united in groups, display a very definite frame of mind. To 
describe this new psychology we must record the incontestably 
closer union which has been formed between the political sections 
of the country. There are no longer any political parties, there 
are Belgians in Belgium, and that is all; Belgians better acquainted 
with their country, feeling for it an impulse of passionate tender- 
ness such as a child might feel who saw his mother suffering for 
the first time, and on his account. Walloons and Flemings, 
CathoHcs and Liberals or Socialists, all are more and more frankly 
united in all that concerns the national life and decisions for the 
future. 

''By uniting the whole nation and its army, by shedding the 
blood of all our Belgians in every corner of the country, by forcing 
all hearts, all families, to follow with anguish the movement of 
those soldiers who fought from Liege to Namur, from Wavre to 
Antwerp or the Oise, the war has suddenly imposed wider horizons 
upon all, has inspired all minds with noble and ardent passions, 
has compelled the good will of all to combine and act in concert 
in order to defend the common interests. 

"Of these profoundly tried minds, of these wonderful energies 
now employed for the first time, of these atrocious sufferings which 
have brought all hearts into closer contact, a new Belgium is bom, 
a greater, more generous, more ideal Belgium." 




CHAPTER XIII 

Britannia Rules the Waves 

^HE month of October, 1914, contained no important naval 
contests. On the 15th, the old British cruiser Hawke was 
torpedoed in the North Sea and nearly five hundred men 
were lost. On the other hand, on the 17th of October, the 
light cruiser Undaunted, accompanied by the destroyers, Lance, 
Legion and Loyal, sank four German destroyers off the Dutch coast. 
But the opening of November turned the interest of the navy to 
the Southern Pacific. When the war began Admiral von Spee, 
with the German Pacific squadron, was at Kiaochau in command of 
seven vessels. Among these was the Emden, whose adventurous 
career has been already described. Another, the Karlsruhe, be- 
came a privateer in the South Atlantic. 

Early in August von Spee set sail from Kiaochau with two 
armored cruisers, the Gneisenau and the Scharnhorst and three 
light cruisers, the Dresden, Leipzig and Nurmberg. These ships 
were comparatively new, well armed, and of considerable speed. 
They set off for the great trade highways to destroy, as far as 
possible, British commerce. Their route led them to the western 
coast of South America, and arrangements were made so that they 
were coaled and provisioned from bases in some of the South 
American states which permitted a slack observance of the laws 
respecting the duties of neutrals. 

A small British squadron had been detailed to protect British 
commerce in this part of the world. It was commanded by Rear- 
Admiral Sir Christopher Cradock, a distinguished and popular 
sailor, who had under his command one twelve-year-old battleship, 
the Canopus, two armored cruisers, the Good Hope and the 
Monmouth, the light cruiser Glasgow, and an armed liner, the 
Otranto. None of these vessels had either great speed or heavy 
armament. The equipment of the Canopus, indeed, was obsolete. 
Admiral Cradock's squadron arrived at Halifax on August 14th, 
thence sailed to Bermuda, then on past Venezuela and Brazil 

201 



202 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR 

around the Horn. It visited the Falkland IslaRds,*and by the 
third week of October was on the coast of Chile. The Canopus had 
dropped behind for repairs, and though reinforcements were 
expected, they had not yet arrived. 

One officer wrote, on the 12th of October, "From now till the 
end of the month is the critical time, as it will decide whether we 
shall have to fight a superior German force from the Pacific before 
we can get reinforcements from home or the Mediterranean. We 
feel that the admiralty ought to have a better force here, but we 
shall fight cheerfully whatever odds we have to face." 

Admiral Cradock knew well that his enemy was superior in 
force. From Coronel, where he sent off some cables, he went 
north on the first of November, and about four o'clock in the 
afternoon the Glasgow sighted the enemy. The two big German 
armored cruisers were leading the way, and two light cruisers were 
following close. The German cruiser Leipzig does not seem to 
have been in company. The British squadron was led by the 
Good Hope, with the Monmouth, Glasgow and Otranto following 
in order. It was a beautiful spectacle. The sun was setting in the 
wonderful glory which one sees in the Pacific, and the British ships, 
west of the German, must have appeared to them in brilliant colors. 
On the east were the snowy peaks of the Andes. Half a gale was 
blowing and the tv/o squadrons moved south at great speed. About 
seven o'clock they were about seven miles apart and the Scharnhorst, 
which was leading the German fleet, opened fire. At this time the 
Germans were shaded by the inshore twilight, but the British ships 
must have showed up plainly in the afterglow\ The enemy fired 
with great accuracy. Shell after shell hit the Good Hope and the 
Monmouth, but the bad light and inferior guns saved the German 
ships from much damage. The Good Hope was set on fire and at 
7.50 exploded and sank. The Monmouth was also on fire, 
and turned away to the western sea. The Glasgow had escaped so 
far, but the whole German squadron bore down upon her. She 
turned and fled and by nine o'clock was out of sight of the enemy. 
The Otranto, only an armed liner, had disappeared early in the 
fight. On the following day the Glasgow worked around to the 
south, and joined the Canopus, and the two proceeded to the 
Straits of the Magellan. The account of this battle by the German 
Admiral von Spee is of especial interest: 



BRITANNIA RULES THE YvAVES £03 

"Wind and swell were head on, and the vessels had heavy 
going, especially the small cruisers on both sides. Observation and 
distance estimation were under a severe handicap because of the 
seas which washed over the bridges. The swell was so great that 
it obscured the aim of the gunners at the six-inch guns on the 
middle deck, who could not see the sterns of the enemy ships at all, 
and the bows but seldom. At 6.20 p. m., at a distance of 13,400 
yards, I turned one point toward the enemy, and at 6.34 opened 
fire at a distance of 11,260 yards. The guns of both our armored 
cruisers were effective, and at 6.39 already we could note the first hit 
on the Good Hope. I at once resumed a parallel course, instead 
of bearing slightly toward the enemy. The English opened their 
fire at this time. I assume that the heavy sea made more trouble 
for them than it did for us. Their two armored cruisers remained 
covered by our fire, while they, so far as could be determined, hit 
the Scharnhorst but twice, and the Gneisenau only four times. 
At 6.53, when 6,500 yards apart, I ordered a course«one point away 
from the enemy. They were firing more slowly at this time, while 
we were able to count numerous hits. We could see, among other 
things, that the top of the Monmouth's forward turret had been 
shot away, and that a violent fire was burning in the turret. The 
Scharnhorst, it is thought, hit the Good Hope about thirty-five 
times. In spite of our altered course the English changed theirs 
sufficiently so that the distance between us shrunk to 5,300 yards. 
There was reason to suspect that the enemy despaired of using his 
artillery effectively, and was maneuvering for a torpedo attack. 

*'The position of the moon, which had risen at six o'clock, was 
favorable to this move. Accordingly I gradually opened up further 
distances between the squadrons by another deflection of the 
leading ship, at 7.45. In the meantime it had grown dark. The 
range finders on the Scharnhorst used the fire on the Monmouth as 
a guide for a time, though eventually all range finding, aiming and 
observations became so inexact that fi.re was stopped at 7.26. At 
7.23 a column of fire from an explosion was noticed between the 
stacks of the Good Hope. The Monmouth apparently stopped 
firing at 7.20. The small cruisers, including the Nuremburg, 
received by wireless at 7.30 the order to follow the enemy and to 
attack his ships with torpedoes. Vision was somewhat obscured 
at this time by a rain squall. The light cruisers were not able to 



204 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR 

find the Good Hope, but the Nuremburg encountered the Monmouth 
and at 8.58 was able, by shots at closest range, to capsize her, 
without a single shot being fired in return. Rescue work in the 
heavy sea was not to be thought of, especially as the Nuremburg 
immediately afterward believed she had sighted the smoke of 
another ship and had to prepare for another attack. The small 
cruisers had neither losses nor damage in the battle. On the 
Gneisenau there were two men slightly wounded. The crews of 
the ships went into the fight with enthusiasm, every one did his 
duty, and played his part in the victory." 

Little criticism can be made of the tactics used by Vice- 
Admiral Spee. He appears to have maneuvered so as to secure the 
advantage of light, wind and sea. He also seems to have suited 
himself as regards the range. 

Admiral Cradock was much criticised for joining battle with 
his little fleet against such odds, but he followed the glorious tradi- 
tions of the English navy. He, and 1 ,650 officers and men, were lost, 
and the news was hailed as a great German victory. But the 
British admiralty were thoroughly roused. Rear-Admiral Sir 
Frederick Doveton Sturdee, chief of the war staff, proceeded at 
once with a squadron to the South Atlantic. With him were two 
battle cruisers, the Invincible and the Inflexible^ three armored 
cruisers, the Camovan, the Kent and the Cornwall. His fleet was 
jioined by the light cruiser Bristol and the armed liner Macedonia. 
The Glasgow, fresh from her rough experience, was found in the 
South Atlantic. Admiral Sturdee then laid his plans to come in 
touch with the victorious German squadron. A wireless message 
was sent to the Canopus, bidding her proceed to Port Stanley in 
the Falkland Islands. This message was intercepted by the 
Germans, as was intended. 

Admiral von Spee, fearing the Japanese fleet, was already 
headed for Cape Horn. He thought that the Canopus could be 
easily captured at Port Stanley, and he started at once to that 
port. Admiral Sturdee's expedition had been kept profoundly 
secret. On December 7th the British squadron arrived at Port 
Stanley, and spent the day coaling. The Canopus, the Glasgow 
and the Bristol were in the inner harbor, while the remaining 
vessels lay outside. On December 8th, Admiral von Spee arrived 
from the direction of Cape Horn. The battle that followed is 




U-- - 





GERMANY BRINGS THE WAR TO EAST COAST TOWNS OF ENGLAND 

By raids with light cruisers on the coast towns, and Zeppelins and airplanes 
further inland, Germany sought to frighten the British populace. At Hartle- 
pool, where this scene was enacted, several civilians, some of them women and 
children, were killed by bursting shells of the raiders. 



BHITANNIA RULES THE WAVES 207 

thoroughly described in the report of Vice-Admiral Sturdee from 
which the following extracts have been made: 

"At 8 A. M., Tuesday, December 8th, a signal was received 
from the signal station on shore. 'A four-funnel and two-funnel 
man-of-war in sight from Sapper Hill steering north.' The Kent 
was at once ordered to weigh anchor, and a general signal was 
made to raise steam for full speed. At 8.20 the signal service 
station reported another column of smoke in sight, and at 8.47 the 
Canopus reported that the first two ships were eight miles off, 
and that the smoke reported at 8.20 appeared to be the smdke 
of two ships about twenty miles off. At 9.20 A. m. the two leading 
ships of the enemy, the Gneisenau and Nuremburg, with guns trained 
on the wireless station, came within range of the Canopus, which 
opened fire at them across the lowland at a range of 11,000 yards. 
The enemy at once hoisted their colors, and turned away. A few 
minutes later the two cruisers altered course to port, as though 
to close the Kent at the entrance to the harbor. But at about 
this time it seems that the Invincible and Inflexible were seen over 
the land, and the enemy at once altered course, and increased speed 
to join their consorts. At 9.45 a. m. the squadron weighed anchor 
and proceeded out of the harbor, the Carnovan leading. On 
passing Cape Pembroke hght, the five ships of the enemy appeared 
clearly in sight to the southeast, hull down. The visibihty was 
at its maximum, the sea was calm, with a bright sun, a clear sky, 
and a light breeze from the northwest. At 10.20 the signal for a 
general chase was made. At this time the enemy's funnels and 
bridges showed just above the horizon. Information was received 
from the Bristol at 11.27 that three enemy ships had appeared 
off Port Pleasant, probably colUers or transports. The Bristol 
was therefore directed to take the Macedonia under orders, and 
destroy transports. 

"The enemy were still maintaining their distance, and I 
decided at 12.20 p. m. to attack, with the two battle cruisers and 
the Glasgow. At 12.47 p. m. the signal to 'Open fire and engage 
the enemy' was made. The Inflexible opened fire at 12.55 p. m. 
at the right-hand ship of the enemy, and a few minutes later the 
Invincible opened fire at the same ship. The deliberate fire became 
too threatening, and when a shell fell close alongside her at 1.20 p. M. 
she, the Leipsig, turned away, with the Nuremburg and Dresden, 



208 HISTORY OF THE VvORLD WAR 

to the southwest. These light crusiers were at once followed by 
the Kent, Glasgow and Cornwall. 

''The action finally developed into three separate encounters. 
First, the action with the armored cruisers. The fire of the battle 
cruisers was directed on the Scharnhorst and Gneisenau. The 
efiect of this was quickly seen, when, with the Scharnhorst leading, 
they turned about seven points to port, and opened fire. Shortly 
afterwards the battle cruisers were ordered to turn together with 
the Invincible leading. The enemy then turned about ten points 
to starboard, and a second chase ensued until, at 2.45, the battle 
cruisers again opened fire. This caused the enemy to turn into 
line ahead to port and open fire. The Scharnhorst caught fire 
forward, but not seriously, and her fire slackened perceptibly. The 
Gneisenau was badly hit by the Inflexible. 

''At 3.30 p. M. the Scharnhorst turned about ten points to 
starboard, her fire had slackened perceptibly, and one shell had 
shot away her third funnel. Some guns were not firing, and it 
would appear that the tm^n was dictated by a desire to bring her 
starboard guns into action. The effect of the fire on the Scharn- 
horst became more and more apparent in consequence of smoke 
from fires and also escaping steam. At times a shell v/ould cause a 
large hole to appear in her side, through which could be seen a dull, 
red glow of flame. 

"At 4.04 p. M. the Scharnhorst, whose flag remained flying to 
the last, suddenly listed heavily to port, and within a minute it 
became clear that she was a doomed ship, for the fist increased 
very rapidly until she lay on her beam ends. At 4.17 p. m. she 
disappeared. The Gneisenau passed on the far side of her late 
flagship, and continued a determined, but ineffectual, effort to 
fight the two battle cruisers. At 5.08 p. m. the forward funnel 
was knocked over, and remained resting against the second funnel. 
She was evidently in serious straits, and her fire slackened very 
much. 

"At 5 15 p. m. one of the Gneisenau's shells struck the Invinci- 
ble. This was her last effective effort. At 5.30 p. m. she turned 
toward the flagship with a heavy list to starboard, and appeared to 
stop, the steam pouring from her escape pipes, and smoke from shell 
and fires rising everywhere. About this time I ordered the signal 
'Cease fire,' but before it was hoisted, the Gneisenau opened fire 



BRITANNIA RULES THE WAVES 209 

again, and continued to fire from time to time with a single gun. 
At 5.40 p. M. the three ships closed in on the Gneisenau, and at 
this time the flag flying at her fore truck, was apparently hauled 
down, but the flag at the peak continued flying. At 5.50 'Cease 
fire' was made. At 6 p. m. the Gneisenau keeled over very sud- 
denly, showing the men gathered on her decks, and then walking 
on her side as she lay for a minute on her beam ends before sinking. 

''The prisoners of war from the Gneisenau report that by the 
time the ammunition was expended some six hundred men had 
been killed and wounded. When the ship capsized and sank there 
were probably some two hundred unwounded survivors in the 
water, but, owing to the shock of the cold water, many were drowned 
within sight of the boats and sliips. Every effort was made to 
save life as quickly as possible, both by boats and from the ships. 
Life buoys were thrown and ropes lowered, but only a portion 
could be rescued. The Invincible alone rescued a hundred and 
eight men, fourteen of whom were found to be dead after being 
brought on board. These men were buried at sea the following 
day, with full military honors. 

"Second, action with the light cruisers. About one p. m. 
when the Scharnhorst and the Gneisenau turned to port to engage 
the Invincible and the Inflexible, the enemy's light cruisers turned 
to starboard to escape. The Dresden was leading, and the Nurem- 
burg and Leipzig followed on each quarter. In accordance with 
my instructions, the Glasgow, Kent and Cornwall at once went in 
chase of these ships. The Glasgow drew well ahead of the Corn- 
wall and Kent, and at 3 p. m. shots were exchanged with the 
Leipzig at 12,000 yards. The Glasgow's object was to endeavor 
to outrange the Leipzig, and thus cause her to alter course and give 
the Cornwall and Kent a chance of coming into action. At 
4.17 p. M. the Cornwall opened fire also on the Leipzig; at 7.17 p. m. 
the Leipzig was on fire fore and aft, and the Cornwall and Glasgow 
ceased fire. The Leipzig turned over on her port side and dis- 
appeared at 9 p. M. Seven officers and eleven men were saved. At 
3.36 p. M. the Cornwall ordered the Kent to engage the Nurem- 
burg, the nearest cruiser to her. At 6.35 p. m. the Nuremburg was 
on fire forward, and ceased firing. The Kent also ceased firing, 
then, as the colors were still observed to be flying on the Nurem- 
burg, the Kent opened fire again. Fire was finally stopped five 



no HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR 

minutes later, on the colors being hauled down, and every prepara- 
tion was made to save life. The Nuremburg sank at 7.27, and as 
she sank a group of men were waving the German ensign attached 
to a staff. 

"Twelve men were rescued, but only seven survived. The 
Kent had four killed and twelve wounded, mostly caused by one 
shell. During the time the three cruisers were engaged with the 
Nuremburg and Leipzig, the Dresden, which was beyond her con- 
sorts, effected her escape, owing to her superior speed. The Glas- 
gow was the only cruiser with sufficient speed to have had any 
chance of success, however she was fully employed in engaging the 
Leipzig for over an hour before either the Cornwall or Kent could 
come up and get within range. During this time the Dresden was 
able to increase her distance and get out of sight. Three, Action 
with the enemy's transports. H.M.S. Macedonia reports that only 
two ships, the steamships Baden and Santa Isabel, were present. 
Both ships were sunk after removal of the crews." 

Thus was annihilated the last squadron belonging to Germany 
outside the North Sea. The defeat of Cradock had been avenged. 
The British losses were very small, considering the length of the 
fight and the desperate efforts of the German fleet. Only one ship 
of the German squadron was able to escape, and this on account of 
her great speed. The German sailors went down with colors 
flying. They died as Cradock's men had died. 

The naval war now entered upon a new phase. The shores of 
Great Britain had for many years been so thoroughly protected 
by the British navy that few coast fortifications had been built, 
except at important naval stations. Invasion on a grand scale 
was plainly impossible, so long as the British fleets held control 
of the sea. With German guns across the Channel almost within 
hearing it was evident that a raiding party might easily reach the 
EngUsh shore on some foggy night. The English people were 
much disturbed. They had read the accounts of the horrible 
brutalities of the German troops in Belgium and eastern France, 
and they imagined their feelings if a band of such ferocious brutes 
were to land in England and pillage their peaceful homes. There 
was a humorous side to the way in which the yeomanry and 
territorials entrenched themselves along the eastern coast line, 
but the Germans, angry at the failure of their fleets, determined 



BRITANNIA RULES THE WAVES 



211 



to disturb the British peace by raids, shght as the mihtary advan- 
tage of such raids might be. 

On November 2d a fleet of German warships sailed from the 
Elbe. They were three battle cruisers, the Seydlitz, the Moltke, 
and the Von Der Tann; two armored cruisers, the Bliicher and 
the York, and three light cruisers, the Kolberg, the Graudenz, 
and the Strasburg. They were mainly fast vessels and the battle 
cruisers carried eleven-inch guns. Early in the morning they ran 
through the nets of a British fishing fleet. Later an old coast 
poHce boat, the Halcyon, was shot at a few times. About eight 
o'clock they were opposite Yarmouth, and proceeded to bombard 




English Coast Towns that weee Raided 



that naval station from a distance of about ten miles. Their 
range was poor and their shells did no damage. They then turned 
swiftly for home, but on the road back the York struck a mine, and 
was sunk. ^^s . 

On the 16th of December they came again, full of revenge 
because of the destruction of von Spee and his squadron. Early 
in the morning early risers in Scarborough saw in the north four 
strange ships. Scarborough was absolutely without defense. It 
had once been an artillery depot but in recent years had been a 
cavalry station, and some few troops of this service were quartered 
there. Otherwise it was an open seaside resort. The German 
ships poured shells into the defenseless town, aiming at every 
large object they could see, the Grand Hotel, the gas works, the 



%n HISTORY OF THE VvORLD WAR 

water works and the wireless station. Churches, pubKc buildings, 
and hospitals were hit, as well as private houses. Over five hundred 
shells were fired. Then the ships turned around and moved away. 
The streets v/ere crowded with puzzled and scared inhabitants, 
many of whom, as is customary in watering places, were women, 
children and invahds. 

At nine o'clock Whitby, a coast town near Scarborough, sav/ 
two great ships steaming up from the south. Ten minutes later 
the ships were firing. The old Abbey of Hilda and Cedman v/as 
struck, but on the whole little damage was done. Another division 
of the invaders visited the Hartlepools. There there was a small 
fort, with a battery of old-fashioned guns, and off the shore was a 
small British flotilla, a gunboat and two destroyers. The three 
battle cruisers among the German raiders opened fire. The Httle 
British fleet did what they could but were quickly driven oft^ 
The German ships then approached the shore and fired on the Eng- 
lish battery, the first fight with a foreign foe m England since 1690. 
The British battery consisted of some territorials who stood with- 
out wavermg to their guns and kept up for half an hour a furious 
cannonaduig. A great deal of damage was done; churches, hos- 
pitals, workhouses and schools were all hit. The total death roll 
was 119, and the wounded over 300. Six hundred houses were 
damaged or destroyed, but there was a great deal of heroism, not 
only among the territorials, but among the inhabitants of the 
town, and when the last shots were fired all turned to the Vv^ork of 
relief. 

Somewhere between nine and ten o'clock the bold German 
fleet started for home. The British Grand Fleet had been notified 
of the raid and two battle cruiser squadrons were hurrying to 
intercept them. But the weather had thickened and the waters 
of the North Sea were covered with fog belts stretching for hun- 
dreds of miles. And so the raiders returned safe to receive theii' 
Iron Crosses. The German aim in such raids was probably to 
create a panic, and so interfere with the English mihtary plans. 
If the English had not looked at the matter with common sense 
they might easily have been tempted to spend millions of pounds 
on seaboard fortifications, and keep millions of men at home who 
were more necessary in the armies in France. But the English 
people kept their heads. 



BRITANNIA RULES THE WAVES 213 

Germany, perceiving the indignation of the world at these 
bombardments of defenseless watering places, endeavored to 
appease criticism by describing them as fortified towns. But the 
well-known excellence of the German system of espionage makes it 
plain that they knew the true condition of affairs. These towns 
were not selected as fortified towns, but because they were not, and 
destruction in unfortified towns it was thought would have a 
greater effect than in a fortified town where it would be regarded 
as among the natural risks of war. 

During the rest of the year of 1914 no further sea fight took 
place in the North Sea nor was there any serious loss to the navy 
from torpedo or submarine. But on the first of January, 1915, the 
British ship Formidable, 15,000 tons, was struck by two torpedoes 
and sunk. The previous day she had left Sheerness with eight 
vessels of the Channel fleet and with no protection from destroyers. 
The night was a bright moonlight and for such vessels to be moving 
in line on such a night without destroyers shows gross carelessness. 
Out of a crew of 800 men only 201 were saved, and the rescue of 
this part of the crew was due to the seamansliip of Captain Pillar 
of the trawler Providence, who managed to take most of those 
rescued on board his vessel. 

On January 24th the German battle cruiser squadron under 
Eear-Admiral Hipper set sail from Wilhelmshaven. "V^Hiat his 
object was is not known. He had enlarged the mine field north of 
Helgoland and north of the mine field had stationed a submarine 
flotilla. It is likely that he was planning to induce the British 
fleet to follow him into the mine field, or within reach of his sub- 
marines. That same morning the British battle cruiser squadron 
under Vice-Admiral Sir David Beatty put to sea. 

According to the official report of the Enghsh Admiral he was 
in command of the following vessels: battle cruisers, the Lion, 
Princess Royal, the Tiger, the New Zealand, and the Indomitable; 
light cruisers, the Southampton, the Nottingham, the Birming- 
ham, the Lowestoft, the Arethusa, the Aurora and the Undaunted, 
with destroyer flotillas under Commodore Tyrwhitt. The German 
Admiral had with him the SeydHtz, the Moltke, the Derfflinger, the 
Bliicher, six light cruisers and a destroyer flotilla. The English 
Admiral apparently had some hint of the plans of the German 
squadron. The night of the 23d had been foggy; in the morning, 



214 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR 

however, the wind came from the northeast and cleared off the 
mists. An abridgment of the official report gives a good account 
of the battle, sometimes called the battle of Dogger Bank : 

*'At 7.25 A. M. the flash of guns was observed south-south- 
east; shortly afterwards the report reached me from the Aurora 
that she was engaged v/ith enemy ships. I inamediately altered 
course to south-southeast, increased speed, and ordered the light 
cruisers and flotillas to get in touch and report movements of enemy. 
This order was acted upon with great promptitude, indeed my 
wishes had already been forestalled by the respective senior officers, 
and reports almost immediately followed from the Southampton, 
Arethusa, and Aurora as to the position and composition of the 
enemy. The enemy had altered their course to southeast; from 
now onward the light cruisers maintained touch with the enemy 
and kept me fully informed as to their movements. The battle 
cruisers v/orked up to full speed, steering to the southward; the 
wind at the time w^as northeast, light, with extreme visibility. 

''At 7.30 A. M. the enemy were sighted on the port bow, steam- 
ing fast, steering approximately southeast, distance fourteen miles. 
Owing to the prompt reports received we had attained our posi- 
tion on the quarter of the enemy, and altered course to run parallel 
to them. We then settled down to a long stern chase, gradually 
increasing our speed until we reached 28.5 knots. 

''Great credit is due to the engineer staffs of the New Zealand 
and Indomitable. These ships greatly exceeded their speed. At 
8.52 A. M., as we had closed within 20,000 yards of the rear ship, 
the battle cruisers maneuvered so that guns would bear and the 
Lion fired a single shot which fell short. The enemy at this time 
were in single line ahead, with fight cruisers ahead and a large 
number of destroyers on their starboard beam. Single shots 
were fired at intervals to test the range, and at 9.09 the Lion made 
her first hit on the Bliicher, the rear ship of the German fine. 
At 9.20 the Tiger opened fire on the Bliicher, and the Lion shifted 
to the third in the line, this ship being hit by several salvos. The 
enemy returned our fire at 9.14 a. m., the Princess Royal, on coming 
into range, opened fire on the Bliicher. The New Zealand was 
also within range of the Bliicher which had dropped somewhat 
astern, and opened fire on her. The Princess Royal then shifted 
to the third ship in the line (Derflclinger) inflicting considerable 



BRITANNIA RULES THE WAVES 215 

damage on her. Our flotilla cruisers and destroyers had gradually- 
dropped from a position, broad on our beam, to our port quarter, 
so as not to foul our range with their smoke. But the enemy's 
destroyers threatening attack, the Meteor and M division passed 
ahead of us. 

"About 9.45 the situation was about as follows: The Bliicher, 
the fourth in their line, showed signs of having suffered severely 
from gun fire, their leading ship and number three were also on fire. 
The enemy's destroyers emitted vast columns of smoke to screen 
their battle cruisers, and under cover of this the latter now 
appeared to have altered course to the northward to increase their 
distance. The battle cruisers therefore were ordered to form a 
line of bearing north-northwest, and proceeded at the utmost 
speed. Their destroyers then showed evident signs of an attempt 
to attack. The Lion and the Tiger opened fire upon them, and 
caused them to retire and resume their original course. 

''At 10.48 A. M. the Bliicher, which had dropped considerably 
astern of the enemy's line, hauled out to port, steering north with 
a heavy Hst, on fire, and apparently in a defeated condition. I 
consequently ordered the Indomitable to attack the enemy break- 
ing northward. At 10.54 submarines were reported on the star- 
board bovf, and I personally observed the wash of a periscope. I 
immediately turned to port. At 10.03 an injury to the Lion being 
reported as being incapable of immedate repair, I directed the Lion 
to shape course northwest. 

''At 11.20 I called the Attack alongside, shifting my flag to 
her, and proceeded at utmost speed to rejoin the squadron. I met 
them at noon, retiring north-northwest. I boarded and hoisted 
my flag on the Princess Royal, when Captain Brock acquainted 
me with what had occurred since the Lion fell out of line, namely, 
that the Bliicher had been sunk and that the enemy battle cruisers 
had continued their course to the eastward in a considerably dam- 
aged condition. He also informed me that a Zeppelin and a sea- 
plane had endeavored to drop bombs on the vessels which went to 
the rescue of the survivors of the Bliicher." 

It appears from this report that as soon as the Germans sighted 
the British fleet they promptly turned around and fled to the 
southeast. This flight, before they could have known the full 
British strength, suggests that the German Admiral was hoping 



216 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR 

to lure the British vessels into the Helgoland trap. The British 
gunnery was remarkably good, shot after shot taking effect at a 
distance of ten miles, and that too when moving at over thirty 
miles an hour. Over 120 of the crew of the Bliicher were rescued 
and more v/ould have been rescued if it had not been for the attack 
upon the rescue parties by the German aircraft. The injury to 
the Lion was very unfortunate. Admkal Beatty handed over 
charge of the battle cruisers to Rear- Admiral Moore, and when he 
was able to overtake the squadron he found that under Admiral 
Moore's orders the British fleet were retiring. The British squad- 
ron at the moment of turning was seventy miles from Helgoland, 
and in no danger from its mine fields. What might have been a 
crushing victory became therefore only a partial one : the Germans 
lost the Bliicher; the Derfflinger and the Seydhtz were badly 
injured, but it seems that with a little more persistence the whole 
German squadron might have been destroyed. 

The result was a serious blow to Germany. This engagement 
was the first between modem big-gun ships. Particular interest 
is also attached to it because each squadron was accompanied by 
scouting and screening light cruisers and destroyers. It was fear 
of submarines and mines, moreover, that influenced the British 
to break off the engagement. A Zeppelin airship and a seaplane 
also took part, and perhaps assisted in the fire control of the 
Germans. The conditions surrounding this battle were ideal for 
illustrating the functions of battle cruisers. The German warship 
raid on the British coast of the previous month was still fresh in 
mind, and when this situation off the Dogger Bank arose the 
timely interposing of Admiral Beatty' s superior force, the fast 
chase, the long-range fighting, the loss of the Bliicher and the 
hasty retreat of the enemy, were all particularly pleasing to the 
British people. As a result the battle cruiser type of ship attained 
great popularity. 




CHAPTER XIV 

New Methods and Horrors of Warfare 

HEN Germany embarked upon its policy of fright- 
fulness, it held in reserve murderous inventions that 
had been contributed to the German General Staff by 
chemists and other scientists working in conjunction 
with the war. Never since the dawn of time had there been such 
a perversion of laiowledge to criminal purposes; never had science 
contributed such a deadly toll to the fanatic and criminal inten- 
tions of a war-crazed class. 

As the war uncoiled its weary length, and month after month 
of embargo and privation saw the morale of the German nation 
grdwing steadily lower, these murderous inventions were suc- 
cessively called into play against the Allies, but as each horror 
was put into play on the battle-field, its principles were solved by 
the scientists of the Allied nations, and the deadly engine of 
destruction was turned with trebled force against the Huns. 

This happened with the various varieties of poison gas, with 
Uquid fire, with trench knives, with nail-studded clubs, with 
armor used by shock troops, with airplane bombs, with cannon 
throwing projectiles weighing thousands of pounds great dis- 
tances behind the battle lines. Not only did America and the 
Allies improve upon Germany's pattern in these respects, but 
they added a few inventions that v/ent far toward turning the 
scale against Germany. An example of these is the 'Hank." 
Originally this was a caterpillar tractor invented in America and 
adopted in England. At first these were of two varieties, the 
male, carrying heavy guns only, and the females, equipped with 
machine guns. To these was later added the whippet tank, 
named after the racing dog developed in England. These whippet 
tanks averaged eighteen miles an hour, carrying death and terror 
into the ranks of the enemy. All the tanks were heavily armored 
and had as their motto the significant words ''Treat 'Em Rough." 
The Germans designed a heavy anti-tank rifle about three feet 

217 



218 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR 

longer than the ordinary rifle and carrying a charge calculated to 
pierce tank armor. These were issued to the German first line 
trenches at the rate of three to a company. That they were not 
particularly effective was proved by the ease with which the tanks 
of all varieties tore through the barbed wire entanglements and 
passed over the Hindenburg and Kriemhild lines, supposed by 
the Germans to be impregnable. 

The tanks in effect were mobile artillery and were used as 
such by all the Allied troops, Germany frantically endeavored to 
manufacture tanks to meet the Allied monsters, but their efforts 
were feeble when compared with the great output opposed to them. 

Before considering other inventions used for the first time in 
this war, it is well to understand the tremendous changes in 
methods and tactics made necessary by these discoveries. 

Put into a sentence, the changed warfare amounts to this: 
it is a mobihzation of material, of railroads, great guns, machine 
guns, food, airplanes and other engines of destruction quite as 
much as it is a mobilization of men. 

The Germans won battle after battle at the beginning of the 
war because of their system of strategic railways that made it 
possible to transport huge armies to selected points in the shortest 
possible time both on the eastern and the western fronts. Lacking 
a system of transportation to match this, Russia lost the great 
battles that decided her fate, Belgium was over-run, and France, 
once the border was passed, became a battle-field upon which the 
Germans might extend their trench systems over the face of the 
land. 

Lacking strategic railways to match those of Germany, 
France evolved an effective substitute in the modern system of 
automobile transportation. When von Kluck swung aside from 
Paris in his first great rush, Gallieni sent out from Paris an army 
in taxicabs that struck the exposed flank and went far toward 
winning the first battle of the Marne. It was the truck trans- 
portation system of the French along the famous "Sacred Road" 
back of the battle line at Verdun that kept inviolate the motto 
of the heroic town, ^'They Shall Not Pass." Motor trucks that 
brought American reserves in a khaki flood won the second battle 
of the Marne. It was automobile transportation that enabled 
Haig to send the British Canadians and Australians in full cry 



NEW METHODS OF WARFARE 219 

after the retreating Germans when the backbone of the German 
resistance was broken before Lens, Cambrai, and Ostend. 

America's railway transportation system in France was one 
of the marvels of the war. Stretching from the sector of sea- 
coast set apart for America by the French Government, it radiated 
far into the interior, deUvering men, munitions and food in a 
steady stream. American engineers worked with their brothers- 
in-arms with the Allies to construct an inter-weaving system of 
wide-gauge and narrow-gauge roads that served to victual and muni- 
tion the entire front and further serve to deliver at top speed 
whole army corps. It was this network of strategic railways 
that enabled the French to send an avalanche clad in horizon- 
blue to the relief of Amiens when Hindenburg made his final 
tremendous effort of 1918. 

In its essentials, military effort in the great conflict may be 
roughly divided into 

Open warfare. 

Trench warfare, 

Crater warfare. 

The first battle of the Marne was almost wholly open war- 
fare; so also were the battles of the Masurian Lakes, Allenstein, 
and Dunajec in the eastern theater of war, and most of the war- 
fare on the Italian front between the Piave River and Gorizia. 

In this variety of battle, airplanes and observation balloons 
play a prominent part. Once the enemy is driven out of its 
trenches, the message is flashed by mreless to the artillery and 
slaughter at long range begins. If there have been no intrench- 
ments, as was the case in the first battle of the Marne, massed 
artillery send a plunging fire into the colunms moving in open 
order and prepare the way for machine gunners and infantry to 
finish the rout. 

In previous wars, cavalry played a heroic r61e in open warfare; 
only rarely has it been possible to use cavalry in the Great War. 
The Germans sent a screen of Uhlans before its advancing hordes 
into Belguim and Northern France in 1914. The Uhlans also 
were in the van in the Russian invasion, but with these exceptions, 
German cavalry was a negligible factor. 

British and French cavalry were active in pursuit of the 
fleeing Teutons when the Hindenburg line was smashed in 



220 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR 

September of 1918. Outside of that brief episode, the cavalry- 
did comparatively nothing so far as the Allies were concerned. 
It was the practice on both sides to dismount cavalry and convert 
it into some form of trench service. Trench mortar companies, 
bombing squads, and other specialty groups were organized from 
among the cavalrymen. Of course the fighting in the open 
stretches of Mesopotamia, South Africa and Russia involved the 
use of great bodies of cavalry. The trend of modern warfare, 
however, is to equip the cavalryman with grenades and bayonets, 
in addition to his ordinary gear, and to make of him practically a 
mounted infantryman. 

Trench warfare occupied most of the time and made nine- 
tenths of the discomforts of the soldiers of both armies. If proof 
of the adaptive capacity of the human animal were needed, it is 
afforded by the manner in which the men burrowed in vermin- 
infested earth and lived there under conditions of Arctic cold, 
frequently enduring long deprivations of food, fuel, and suitable 
clothing. During the early stages of the war, before men became 
accustomed to the rigors of the trenches, many thousands died as 
a direct result of the exposure. Many thousand of others were 
incapacitated for Hfe by *' trench feet," a group of maladies cover- 
ing the consequences of exposure to cold and water which in those 
early days flowed in rivulets through most of the trenches. The 
trenches at Gallipoli had their own special brand of maladies. 
Heatstroke and a malarial infection were among these disabhng 
agencies. Trench fever, a malady beginning with a headache and 
sometimes ending in partial paralysis and death, was another 
common factor in the mortality records. 

But in spite of all these and other discomforts, in spite of the 
disgusting vermin that crawled upon the men both in winter and 
in summer, both sides mastered the trenches and in the end learned 
to live in them with some degree of comfort. 

At first the trenches were comparatively straight, shallow 
affaks; then as the artillery searched them out, as the machine 
gunners learned the art of looping their fire so that the bullets 
would drop into the hiding places of the enemy, the trench systems 
gradually became more scientifically involved. After the Germans 
had been beaten at the Marne and had retired to their prepared 
positions along the Aisne, there commenced a series of flanking 



NEW METHODS OF WARFARE 



221 




FORTS, FLYING AND NAVAL BASES ON THE NORTH SEA 



222 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR ^ 

attempts by one side and the other which speedily resolved itself 
into the famous "race to the sea." This was a competition between 
the opposing armies in rapid Irench digging. The effort on either 
side was made to prevent the enemy from executing a flank move- 
ment. In an amazingly short time the opposing trenches extended 
from the Belgian coast to the Swiss border, making further out- 
flanking attempts impossible of achievement. 

This was not the first time in history that intrenched armies 
opposed each other. The Civil War in this country set the 
fashion in that respect. The contending sides in the Great War, 
however, improved vastly upon the American example. Com- 
municating trenches were constructed, leading back to the com- 
pany kitchens, and finally to the open road leading back to the 
rest billets of the armies. 

When night raiding commenced, it was speedily seen that 
straight trenches exposed whole companies of men to enfilading 
fire. Thereupon bastions were made and new defenses presented 
by zig-zagging the front-hne trenches and the communicating 
ditches as well. 

To the formidable obstacles presented by the trenches, 
equipped as they were with sand-bag parapets':- and firing steps, 
were added barbed-wire entanglements and pitfalls of various 
sorts. The greatest improvement was made by the Germans, 
and they added "pill boxes." These were really miniature fortresses 
of concrete and armor plate with a dome-shaped roof and loop- 
holes for machine gunners. Only a direct hit by a projectile from a 
big gun sierved to demolish a "pill box." The Allies learned after 
many costly experiments that the best method to overcome these 
obstacles was to pass over and beyond them, leaving them isolated 
in Allied territory, where they were captured at the leisure of the 
attackers. 

Trench warfare brings with it new instruments. There are 
the flame projectors, which throw fire to a distance of approximately 
a hundred feet. The Germans were the first to use these, but 
they were excelled in this respect by the inventive genius of the 
nations opposing them. 

The use of poison gas, the word being used in its broad sense, 
is now general. It was first used by the Germans, but as in the 
case of flame throwers, the Allies soon gained the ascendency. 




u o 



NEW METHODS OF WARFARE 225 

The first use of asphyxiating gas was by the Germans during 
the first battle of Ypres. There the deadly compound was mixed 
in huge reservoirs back of the German lines. From these extended 
a system of pipes with vents pointed toward the British and 
Canadian lines. Waiting until air currents were moving steadily 
westward, the Germans opened the stop-cocks shortly after mid- 
night and the poisonous fumes swept slowly, relentlessly f orv/ard in a 
greenish cloud that moved close to the earth. The result of that 
fiendish and cowardly act was that thousands of men died in 
horrible agony without a chance for their lives. 

Besides that first asphyxiating gas, there soon developed 
others even more deadly. The base of most of these was chlorine. 
Then came the lachrymatory or ''tear-compelling" gases, cal- 
culated to produce temporary or permanent blindness. Another 
German ''triumph" was mustard gas. This is spread in gas shells, 
as are all the modern gases. The Germans abandoned the cumber- 
some gas-distributing system after the invention of the gas shell. 
These make a peculiar gobbhng sound as they rush overhead. 
They explode with a very slight noise and scatter their contents 
broadcast. The liquids carried by them are usually of the sort 
that decompose rapidly when exposed to the air and give off the 
acrid gases dreaded by the soldiers. They are directed against 
the artillery as well as against intrenched troops. Every command, 
no matter how small, has its warning signal in the shape of a gong 
or a siren warning of approaching gas. 

Gas masks were speedily discovered to offset the dangers 
of poison gases of all kinds. These were worn not only by troops 
in the field, but by artillery horses, pack mules, liaison dogs, and 
by the civilian inhabitants in back of the battle lines. Where 
used quickly and in accordance with instructions, these masks 
were a complete protection against attacks by gas. 

The perfected gas masks used by both sides contained a 
chamber filled with a specially prepared charcoal. Peach pits 
were collected by the millions in all the belligerent countries to make 
this charcoal, and other vegetable substances of similar density 
were also used. Anti-gas chemicals were mixed with, the charcoal. 
The wearer of the mask breathed entirely through the mouth, 
gripping a rubber mouthpiece while his nose was pinched shut 
by a clamp attached to the mask. 



226 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR 

In training, soldiers were required to hold their breath for 
six seconds while the mask was being adjusted. It was explained 
to them that four breaths of the deadly chlorine gas was sufficient 
to kill; the first breath produced a spasm of the glottis; the second 
brought mental confusion and delirium; the tliird produced uncon- 
sciousness; and the fourth, death. The bag containing the gas 
mask and respirator was carried always by the soldier. 

The soldier during the winter season in the front Une trenches 
was a grotesque figure. His head was crowned with a helmet 
covered with khaki because the glint of steel would advertise his 
whereabouts. Beneath the helmet he wore a close fitting woolen 
cap pulled down tightly around his ears and sometimes tied or 
buttoned beneath his chin. Suspended upon his chest was the 
khaki bag containing gas mask and respirator. Over his outer 
garments were his belt, brace straps, bayonet and ammunition 
pouches. His rifle was slung upon his shoulder with the foot of a 
woolen sock covering the muzzle and the leg of the same sock 
wrapped around the breech. A large jerkin made of leather, 
without sleeves, was worn over the short coat. Long rubber boots 
reaching to the hips and strapped at ankle and hip completely 
covered his legs. When anticipating trench raids, or on a raiding 
party, a handy trench knife and carefully slung grenades were 
added to his equipment. 

Airplane bombing ultimately changed the whole character of 
the war. It extended the fighting lines miles behind the battle 
front. It brought the horrors of night attacks upon troops resting 
in billets. It visited destruction and death upon the civilian popu- 
lation of cities scores of miles back of the actual front. 

Germany transgressed repeatedly the laws of himianity by 
bombing hospitals far behind the battle front. Describing one of 
these atrocious attacks, which took place May 29, 1918, Colonel 
G. H. Andrews, chaplain of a Canadian regiment, said: 

''The building bombed was one of three large Red Cross 
hospitals at Boulenes and was filled with AlUed wounded. A 
hospital in which were a number of wounded German prisoners 
stood not very far away, 

"The Germans could not possibly have mistaken the building 
they bombed for anything else but a hospital. There were flags 
with a red cross flying, and lights were turned on them so that 



NEW METHODS OF WARFARE mi 

they would show prominently. And the windows were brilliantly 
lighted. Those inside heard the buzz of the advancing airplanes, 
but did not give them a thought. 

"The machines came right on, ignoring the hospital with the 
German wounded, indicating they had full knowledge of their 
objective, until they were over a wing of the Red Cross hospital 
that contained the operating room on the ground floor. In the 
operating room a man was on the table for a most difficult surgical 
feat. Around hun were gathered the staff of the hospital and its 
brilliant sm-geons. Lieutenant Sage of New York had just given 
him the anesthetic when one of the airplanes let the bomb drop. 
It was a big fellow. It must have been all of 250 pounds of high 
explosive. 

''It hurtled downward, carrying the two floors before it. 
Through the gap thus made wounded men, the beds in which they 
lay, convalescents, and all on the floors came crashing down to the 
ground. The bomb's force extended itself to wreck the operating 
room, where the man on the table, Lieutenant Sage, and all in the 
room were killed. In all there were thirty-seven lives lost, includ- 
ing three Red Cross nurses. 

"The building caught fire. The concussion had blown the 
stairs down, so that escape from the upper floors seemed impossi- 
ble. But the convalescents and the soldiers, who had run to the 
scene of the bombing, let the very ill ones out of the windows, and 
escape was made in that way. 

"And then, to cap the climax, the German airplanes returned 
over the spot of their ghastly triumph and filled on the rescuers 
with machine guns. God will never forgive the Huns for that act 
alone. Nor will our comrades ever forget it." 

The statement of Colonel Andrews was corroborated by a 
number of other offi.cers. 

To protect artillery against counter-fire of all kinds, both sides 
from the beginning used the art of camouflage. This v/as resorted 
to particularly against scouting airplanes. At first the branches 
of trees and similar natural cover were used to deceive the airmen. 
Later the guns themselves were painted with protective colora- 
tions, and screens of burlap were used instead of branches. The 
camoufleur, as the camouflage artist was called, speedily extended 
his activities to screens over highways, preventing airmen from 



228 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR 

seeing troops in motion, to the protective coloration of lookout 
posts, and of other necessary factors along the fighting front. 
Camouflage also found great usefulness in the protective colora- 
tion of battleships and merchant vessels. Scientific study went 
hand in hand with the art, the object being to confuse the enemy 
and to offer targets as small as possible to the enemy gunners. 

Crater warfare came as a development of intensified artillery 
attacks upon trench systems. It was at Dunajec on the eastern 
front that for the first time in modern war the wheels of artillery 
were placed hub to hub in intensified hurricane fire upon enemy 
positions. The result there under von Mackensen's direction was 
the rout of the Russians. When later the same tactics were 
employed on the western front, -the result was to destroy whole 
trench systems v^^ith the exception of deep dugouts, and to send 
the occupants of the trenches into the craters, made by shell 
explosions, for protection. 

It was observed that these craters made excellent cover and 
when finked by vigorous use of the intrenching tools carried by 
every soldier, they made a fair substitute for the trenches. This 
observation gave root to an idea which was followed by both 
armies; this was the deliberate creation of crater systems by the 
artillery of the attacking force. Into these lines of craters the 
attacking infantry threw itself in wave after wave as it rushed toward 
the enemy trenches. The ground is so riddled by this intensive 
artillery fire that there is created what is known as '^moon terrain", 
fields resembfing the surface of the moon as seen through a powerful 
telescope. Troops on both sides were trained to utifize these 
shell holes to the utmost, each httle group occupying a crater, 
keeping in touch with its nearest group and moving steadily in 
unison toward the enemy. 

One detail in which this war surpassed all others was in the 
use of machine guns and grenades. The Germans were first to 
make extensive use of the machine gun as a weapon with which 
to produce an effective barrage. They established machine-gun 
nests at frequent intervals commanding the zone over which 
infantry was to advance and by skilful crossfire kept that terrain 
free from every living thing. The Germans preferred a machine 
gun, water cooled and of the barrel-recoil type. The English 
used a Vickers-Maxim and a Lewis gun, the latter the invention of 



NEW METHODS OF WARFARE 229 

an officer in the American army. The French preferred the 
Hotchkiss and the Saint-Etienne. The Americans standardized 
the Browning Hght and heavy machine guns, and these did effective 
service. It was asserted by American gunnery experts that the 
Browning excels all other weapons of its type. 

Two general types of grenades were used on both sides. One 
a defensive bomb about the size of an orange, containing a bursting 
charge weighing twenty-two ounces. Then there was a grenade 
used for offensive work carrying about thirty-two ounces of high 
explosives. The defensive grenades were of cast iron and so made 
that they burst into more than a hundred jagged pieces when they 
exploded. These wounded or killed within a radius of one hundred 
and fifty yards. In exceptional instances, the range was higher. 

The function of artillery in a modern battle is constantly 
extending. Both the big guns and the howitzers were the deciding 
factors in most of the military decisions reached during the war. 
Artillery is divided first between the big guns having a compara- 
tively fiat trajectory and the howitzers whose trajectory is curved. 
Then there is a further division into these four classes: 

Field artillery, 

Heavy artillery, ., 

Railroad artillery. 

Trench artillery. 

The type of field artillery is the famous 75-millimeter gun 
used interchangeably by the French and Americans. It is a quick- 
firing weapon and is used against attacking masses and for the 
various kind of barrages, including an anti-aircraft barrage. 

Included in the heavy artillery are guns and howitzers of 
larger caHber than the 75-millimeter. Three distinct and terrify- 
ing noises accompany explosions of these guns. First, there is the 
explosion when the shell leaves the gun; then there is the pecuhar 
rattling noise fike the passing of a railway train when the shells 
pass overhead; then there is the explosion at point of contact, a 
terrific concussion which produces the human condition called 
"shell-shock," a derangement of body and brain, paralyzing nerve 
and muscle centers and frequently producing insanity. 

The railroad artillery comprises huge guns pulled on railways 
by locomotives, each gun having a number of cars as part of its 
equipment. These are slow-firing guns of great power and hurling 



230 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR 

the largest projectiles known to warfare. The largest guns of 
this class were produced by American inventive genius as a reply 
to the German gun of St. Gobain Forest. This was a weapon which 
hm-led a nine-inch shell from a distance of sixty-two miles into the 
heart of Paris. The damage done by it was comparatively slight 
and it had no appreciable effect upon the morale of the Parisians. 

Its greatest damage was when it struck the Roman Catholic 
Church of St. Gervais on Good Friday, March 29, 1918, killing 
seventy-five persons and wounding ninety. Fiftj^-'four of those 
killed were women, five being Americans. The total effect of the 
bombardment by this big gun was to arouse France, England and 
America to a fiercer fighting pitch. The late Cardinal Farley, 
Archbishop of New York, expressed this sentiment, when he sent 
the following message to the Archbishop of Paris : 

Shocked by the brutal killing of innocent victims gathered at religious 
services to commemorate the passing of our blessed Saviour on Good 
Friday, the Catholics of New York join jT-our noble protest against this 
outrage of the sanctuary on such a day and at such an hour and, express- 
ing their sympathy to the bereaved relatives of the dead and injured, 
pledge their unfaltering allegiance in support of the common cause that 
unites our two great republics. May God bless the brave officers and men 
of the Allied armies in their splendid defense of liberty and justice! 

Trench artillery are Stokes guns and other mortars hurling 
aerial torpedoes containing great quantities of high explosives. 
These have curved trajectories and are effective not only against 
trenches but also against deep dugouts, wire entanglements and 
hstening posts. 

One of the most important details of modern warfare is that of 
communication or Uaison on the battlefield. This is accomplished 
by runners recruited from the trenches, by dogs, pigeons, telephone, 
radio. 

As has been heretofore stated, the airplane considered in all 
its developments, is the newest and most important of factors in 
modem warfare. It photographs the enemy positions, it detects 
concentrations and other movements of the enemy, it makes 
surprise impossible, it is a deadly engine of destruction when 
used in spraying machine-gun fire upon troops in the open. As 
a bombing device, it surpasses the best and most accurate 
artillery. 




CHAPTER XV 

German Plots and Propaganda in America 

^HE pages of Germany's militaristic history are black with 
many shameful deeds and plots. Those pages upon which 
are written the intrigues against the peace of America and 
against the lives and properties of American citizens 
during the period between the declaration of war in 1914 and the 
armistice ending the war, while not so bloody as those relating to 
the atrocities in Belgium and Northern France are still revolting 
to civilized mankind. 

Germany not only paid for the murder of passengers on ships 
where its infernal machines were placed, not onlj'- conspired for 
the destruction of munition plants and factories of many kinds, 
not only sought to embroil the United States, then neutral, in a 
war with Mexico and Japan, but it committed also the crime of 
murderous hypocrisy by conspiring to do these wrongs under the 
cloak of friendship for this country. 

It was in December of 1915 that the German Government 
sent to the United States for general publication in American news- 
papers this statement: 

The German Government has naturally never knowingly accepted 
the support of any person, group of persons, society or organization seek- 
ing to promote the cause of Germany in the United States by illegal acts, 
by counsel of violence, by contravention of law, or by any means what- 
ever that could offend the American people in the pride of their own 
authority. 

The answer to this imperial lie came from the President of 
the United States, when, in liis address to Congress, April 2, 1917, 
urging a declaration of war on Germany, he characterized the Ger- 
man spy system and its frightful fruits in the following language: 

''One of the things that has served to convince us that the 
Prussian autocracy was not and could never be our friend is that 
from the very outset of the present war it has filled our unsus- 

231 



232 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR 

pecting communities, and even our offices of government, with 
spies, and set criminal intrigues everywhere afoot against our 
national unity of counsel, our peace within and without, our 
industries and our commerce. Indeed it is now evident that its 
spies were here even before the Vv^ar began; and it is unhappily 
not a matter of conjecture, but a fact proved in our courts of 
justice, that the intrigues which have more than once come 
perilously near to disturbing the peace and dislocating the indus- 
tries of the country have been carried on at the instigation, with 
the support, and even under the personal direction of official 
agents of the Imperial Government accredited to the Government 
of the United States." 

Austria co-operated Y^dth Germany in a feeble way in these 
plots and propaganda, but the master plotter was Count Johann 
von Bernstorff, Germany's Ambassador. The Austro-Hungarian 
Ambassador, Constantin Theodor Dumba, Captain Franz von 
Papen, Captain Karl Boy-Ed, Dr. Heinrich F. Albert, and Y/olf 
von Igel, all of whom w^ere attached to the German Embassy, 
were associates in the intrigues. Franz von Rintelen operated 
independently and received his funds and instructions directly 
from Berlin. 

One of the earliest methods of creating disorder in American 
munition plants and other industrial establishments engaged in 
war work was through labor disturbances. With that end in 
view a general German employment bureau was established in 
August, 1915, in New York City. It had branches in Philadelphia, 
Bridgeport, Pittsburgh, Cleveland, Chicago and Cincinnati. These 
cities at that time were the centers of industries engaged in furnish- 
ing munitions and war supplies to the Entente allies. Concerning 
this enterprise Ambassador Dumba, writing to Baron Burian, 
Foreign Minister of Austria-Hungary, said: 

A private German employment office has been established which 
provides employment for persons who have voluntarily given up their 
placeS; and it is already working well. We shall also join in and the 
widest support is assured us. 

The duties of men sent from the German employment offices 
into munition plants maj'' be gathered from the following frank 
circular issued on November 2, 1914, by the German General 
Headquarters and reprinted in the Freie Zeitung, of Berne. 



' PLOTS AND PROPAGANDA 233 

General Headquarters to the Military Representative 

ON THE Russian and French Fronts, as Well as in 

Italy and Norway. 

In all branch establishments of German banking houses in Sweden 
Norway, Switzerland, China and the United States, special miUtary 
accounts have been opened for special war necessities. Main headquarters 
authorizes you to use these credits to an unUmited extent for the purpose 
of destroying factories, workshops, camps, and the most important centers 
of mihtary and civil supply belonging to the enemy. In addition to the 
incitement of labor troubles, measures must be taken for the damaging 
of engmes and machinery plants, the destruction of vessels carrying war 
^aterial to enemy countries, the burning of stocks of raw materials and 
fimshed goods, and the depri^dng of large industrial centers of electric 
power, fuel and food. Special agents, who will be placed at your disposal, 
will supply you with the necessary means for effecting explosions and fires 
as well as with a list of people in the country under your supervision who 
are willing to undertake the task of destruction. 

(Signed) Dr. E. Fischer. 
Shortly after the establishment of the German employment 
bureau, Ambassador Dumba sent the following communication to 
the Austrian Foreign Office: 

It is my impression that we can disorganize and hold up for months 
iu "^VTn^^^^ prevent, the manufacture of munitions in Bethlehem and 
the Middle West, which, in the opinion of the German miUtary attach^, 
is of importance and amply outweighs the comparatively small expenditure 
of money involved. 

Concerning the operations of the arson and murder squad 
organized by von Bernstorff, Dumba and their associates, it is 
only necessary to turn to the records of the criminal courts of the 
United States and Canada. Take for example the case against 
Albert Kaltschmidt, living in Detroit, Michigan. The United 
States grand jury sitting in Detroit indicted Kaltschmidt and his 
fellow conspirators upon the following counts: 

"To blow up the factory of the Peabody's Company, Limited, 
at Walkerville, Ontario, . . . engaged in manufacturing uniforms, 
clothing and military supplies. . 

"To blow up the building known as the Windsor Armories 
of the City of Windsor. . . 

"To blow up and destroy other plants and buildings in said 
Dominion of Canada, which were used for the manufacture of 
munitions of war, clothing and uniforms. 



234 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR 

"To blow up and destroy the great railroad bridges of the 
Canadian Pacific Railroad at Nipigon. . . . 

"To employ and send into said Dominion of Canada spies to 
obtain military information." 

Besides the acts enumerated in the indictment it was proved 
upon trial that Kaltschmidt and his gang planned to blow up 
the Detroit Screw Works where shrapnel was being manufactured, 
and to destroy the St. Clair tunnel, connecting Canada with the 
United States. Both of these plans failed. Associated with 
Kaltschmidt in these plots were Captain von Papen, Baron Kurt 
von Reiswitz, German consul-general in Chicago; Charles F. 
Respa, Richard Herman, and William M. Jarasch, the latter 
two German reservists. Testifying in the case Jarasch, a bartender, 
said: ''Jacobsen (an aide) told me that munition factories in 
Canada were to be blown up. Before I left for Detroit, Jacobsen 
and I went to the consulate. We saw the consul and he shook 
hands with me and wished me success." 

Charles F. Respa, in his testimony made the following revela- 
tions in response to questions by the government's representatives: 

Q. How long had you been employed before he (Kaltschmidt) 
told you that he wanted you to blow up some of these factories? 
A. About three weeks. 

Q. Did Kaltschmidt at the time speak of any particular 
place that he wanted you to blow up? A. The particular place 
was the Armory. 

Q. Did he mention the Peabody Building at that time? 
A. Not particularly — he was more after the bridges and the 
armories and wanted those places blown up that made ammuni- 
tion and military clothing. 

Q. The explosion at the armories was to be timed so that it 
would occur when the soldiers were asleep there? A. Yes — he 
did not mention that he wanted to kill soldiers. 

Q. Did he say that if the dynamite in the suitcase exploded 
it would kill the soldiers? A. I do not remember that he said so, 
but he must have known it. 

Q. Did you take both grips? A. Yes. 

Q. Where did you set the first grip? A. By the Peabody 
plant (blown up on June 20, 1915). 

Q. Where did you put the other suitcase? A. Then I 



PLOTS AND PROPAGANDA 235 

walked down the Walkerville road to the Armories at Windsor, 
and carried the suitcase. 

Q. When you got to the Armories did you know where to 
place it? A. I had my instructions. 

Q. From Kaltschmidt? A. Yes. 

Q. Did you place this suitcase containing the dynamite 
bomb at the armory in a proper place to explode and do any 
damage? A. Yes. 

Q. Was it properly connected so that the cap would explode 
and strike the dynamite? A. I fixed it so that it would not. 

Q. Did you deliberately fix this bomb that you took to the 
Armories so that it would not explode? A. Yes. 

Q. Why did you do that? A, I knew that the suitcase 
contained thirty sticks of dynamite and if exploded would blow 
up the Armories and all the ammunition and kill every man in it. 

It is interesting to note in this connection that Kaltschmidt 
was sentenced to four years in the federal prison at Leavenworth, 
Kansas, and to pay a fine of $20,000. Horn's sentence was eighteen 
months in the Atlanta penitentiary and a fine of $1,000. 

Attempts were also made to close by explosions the tunnels 
through which the Canadian Pacific Railroad passes under the 
Selkirk Mountains in British Columbia. The German General 
Staff in this instance operated through Franz Bopp, the German 
consul-general in San Francisco, and Lieutenant von Brincken. 
J. H. van Koolbergen was hired to do this work. Concerning the 
negotiations, van Koolbergen made this statement: 

''Not knowing what he wanted I went to see him. He was 
very pleasant and told me that he was an officer in the German 
army and at present working in the secret service of the German 
Empire under Mr. Franz Bopp, the Imperial German consul. 

''I went to the consulate and met Franz Bopp and then saw 
von Brincken in another room. He asked me if I would do some- 
thing for him in Canada and I answered him, 'Sure, I will do some- 
thing, even blow up bridges, if there is money in it.' And he said, 
'You are the man; if that is so, you can make good money.' 

"Von Brincken told me that they were wiUing to send me up 
to Canada to blow up one of the bridges on the Canadian Pacific 
Raih-oad or one of the tunnels. I asked him what was in it and he 
said he would talk it over with the German consul, Bopp. 



236 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR 

"I had accepted von Brincken's proposition to go to Canada 
and he offered me $500 to defray my expenses. On different 
occasions, in his room, von Brincken showed me maps and informa- 
tion about Canada, and pointed out to me where he wanted the 
act to be done. This was to be between Revelstake and Vancouver 
on the Canadian Pacific Railroad, and I was to get $3,000 in case 
of a successful blowing up of a miUtary bridge or tunnel." 

Van Koolbergen only made a pretended effort to blow up the 
tunnel. He did furnish the evidence, however, which served to 
send Bopp and his associates to the penitentiary. 

Even more sensational was the plot against the international 
bridge upon which the Grand Trunk Railway crosses the border 
between the United States and Canada at Vanceboro, Me. 

Werner Horn was a German reserve lieutenant. Von Papen 
delivered to him a flat order to blow up the bridge and he gave 
him $700 for the purpose of perpetrating the outrage. Horn was 
partially successful. At his trial in Boston in June, 1917, he made 
the following confession: 

"I admit and state that the facts set forth in the indictments 
as to the conveyance of explosives on certain passenger trains 
from New York to Boston and from Boston to Vanceboro, in the 
State of Maine, are true. I did, as therein alleged, receive an explo- 
sive and conveyed the same from the city of New York to Boston, 
thence by common carrier from Boston to Vanceboro, Maine. 
On or about the night of February 1, 1915, I took said explosive 
in a suitcase in which I was conveying it and carried the same 
across the bridge at Vanceboro to the Canadian side, and there, 
about 1.10 in the morning of February 2, 1915, 1 caused said explo- 
sive to be exploded near or against the abutments of the bridge 
on the Canadian side, with intent to destroy the abutment and 
cripple the bridge so that the same could not be used for the passage 
of trains." 

Bribery of Congressmen was intended by Franz von Rintelen, 
operating directly in touch with the German Foreign Office in 
Berlin. Count von Bernstorff sent the following telegram to 
Berlin in connection with his plan: 

I request authority to pay out up to $50,000 in order, as on former 
occasions, to influence Congress through the organization you know of, 
which can perhaps prevent war. I iam' beginning in the meantime to act 



PLOTS AND PROPAGANDA 237 

accordingly. In the above circumstances, a public official German 
declaration in favor of Ireland is highly desirable, in order to gain the 
support of the Irish influence here. 

That it was Rintelen's purpose to use large sums of money 
for the purpose of bribing Congressmen was stated positively by 
George Plochman, treasurer of the Transatlantic Trust Company, 
where Rintelen kept his deposits. 

Rintelen was the main figure on this side of the water in the 
fantastic plot to have Mexico and Japan declare war upon the 
United States. During the trial of Rintelen in New York City 
in May, 1917, it was testified "that he came to the United States 
in order to embroil it with Mexico and Japan if necessary; that 
he was doing all he could and was going to do all he could to embroil 
this country with Mexico; that he believed that if the United 
States had a war with Mexico it would stop the shipment of ammu- 
nition to Europe; that he believed it would be only a matter of 
time until we were involved with Japan." 

Rintelen also said that "General Huerta was going to return 
to Mexico and start a revolution there which would cause the 
United States to intervene and so make it impossible to ship muni- 
tions to Europe. Intervention," he said, "was one of his trump 
cards." 

Mexico was the happy hunting-ground for pro-German plotters, 
and the German Ambassador in Mexico, Heinrich von Eckhardt, 
was the leader in all the intrigues. The culmination of Germany's 
effort against America on this continent came on January 19, 
1917, when Dr. Alfred Zimmerman, head of the German Foreign 
Office, sent the following cable to Ambassador von Eckhardt: 

On the first of February we intend to begin submarine warfare 
unrestricted. In spite of this, it is our intention to endeavor to keep 
neutral the United States of America. 

If this attempt is not successful, we propose an alliance on the follow- 
ing basis with Mexico: That we shall make war together and together 
make peace. We shall give general financial support, and it is under- 
stood that Mexico is to reconquer the lost territory in New Mexico, Texas 
and Arizona. The details are left to you for settlement. You are 
instructed to inform the President of Mexico of the above in the greatest 
confidence as soon as it is certain that there will be an outbreak of war 
with the United States, and suggest that the President of Mexico, on his 



238 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR 

own initiative, should communicate with Japan suggesting adherence 
at once to this plan; at the same time, offer to mediate between Germany 
and Japan. 

Please call to the attention of the President of Mexico that the 
employment of ruthless submarine warfare now promises to compel 
England to make peace in a few months. 

ZiMMEEMAN. 

This was almost three months before the United States entered 
the war. As an example of German blindness and diplomatic 
folly it stands unrivaled in the annals of the German Foreign 
Office. 

Plots against shipping were the deadliest in which the German 
conspirators engaged. Death and destruction followed in their 
wake. In direct connection of von Bernstorff and his tools with 
these outrages the following testimony by an American secret 
service man employed by Wolf von Igel is interesting. It refers 
to an appointment with Captain von Kleist, superintendent of 
Scheele's bomb factory in Hoboken, N. J. 

"We sat down and we spoke for about three hours. I asked 
him the different things that he did, and said if he wanted an inter- 
view with Mr. von Igel, my boss, he would have to tell everything. 
So he told me that von Papen gave Dr. Scheele, the partner of 
von Kleist in this factory, a check for $10,000 to start this bomb 
factory. He told me that he, Mr. von Kleist, and Dr. Scheele 
and a man by the name of Becker on the Friedrich der Grosse were 
making the bombs, and that Captain Wolpert, Captain Bode and 
Captain Steinberg, had charge of putting these bombs on the ships; 
they put these bombs in cases and shipped them as merchandise 
on these steamers, and they would go away on the trip and the 
bombs would go off after the ship was out four or five days, causing 
a fire and causing the cargo to go up in flames. He also told me 
that they have made quite a number of these bombs; that thirty 
of them were given to a party by the name of O'Leary, and that 
he took them down to New Orleans where he had charge of putting 
them on ships down there, this fellow O'Leary." 

About four hundred bombs were made under von Igel's direc- 
tion; explosions and fires were caused by them on thirty-three 
ships sailing from New York harbor alone. 

Four of the bombs were found at Marseilles on a vessel which 



PLOTS AND PROPAGANDA 239 

sailed from Brooklyn in May, 1915. The evidence collected in 
the case led to the indictment of the following men for feloniously 
transporting on the steamship Kirk Oswald a bomb or bombs 
fiUed with chemicals designed to cause incendiary fires: Rintelen, 
Wolpert, Bode, Schmidt, Becker, Garbade, Praedel, Paradies, 
von Kleist, Schinmiel, Scheele, Steinberg and others. The last 
three named fled from justice, Scheele being supphed with $1,000 
for that purpose by Wolf von Igel. He eluded the Federal author- 
ities until April, 1918, when he was found hiding in Cuba under 
the protection of German secret service agents. All the others 
except Schmidt were found guilty and sentenced, on February 5, 
1918, to imprisonment for eighteen months and payment of a fine 
of $2,000 each. It was proved during the trial that Rintelen had 
hired Schimmel, a German lawyer, to see that bombs were placed 
on ships. 

Schmidt, von Kleist, Becker, Garbade, Praedel and Paradies 
had already been tried for conspiracy to make bombs for conceal- 
ment on ocean-going vessels, with the purpose of setting the same 
on fire. All were found guilty, and on April 6, 1917, von Kleist 
and Schmidt were sentenced to two years' imprisonment and a 
fine of $500 each. 

Robert Fay, a former officer in the German army, who came to 
the United States in April, 1915, endeavored to prevent the traffic 
in munitions by sinking the laden ships at sea. In recounting the 
circumstances of his arrival here to the chief of the United States 
secret service, Fay said : 

". . . I had in the neighborhood of $4,000. . . . This 
money came from a man who sent me over . . . (named) 
Jonnersen. The understanding was that it might be worth while 
to stop the shipment of artillery munitions from this country. 
. . . I imagined Jonnersen to be in the (German) secret service." 

After stating that he saw von Papen and Boy-Ed, and that 
neither would have anything to do with him, apparently because 
suspicious of his identity. Fay continued: 

"I did not want to return (to Germany) without having 
carried out my intention, that is, the destruction of ships carrying 
munitions. I proceeded with my experiments and tried to get hold 
of as much explosive matter as in any way possible. . . ." 

Fay and two confederates were arrested in a lonely spot near 



240 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR 

Grantwood, New Jersey, while testing an explosive. During his 
examination at pohce headquarters in Weehawken immediately 
after the arrest he was questioned as follows: 

Q. That large machine you have downstairs, what is that? 

A. That is a patent of mine. It is a new way of getting a 
time fuse. . . . 

Q. Did you know where Scholz (Fay's brother-in-law) had 
this machine made? 

A. In different machine shops. . . 

Q. What material is it you wanted (from Daeche, an accom- 
phce)? 

A. Trinitrotoluol (T. N. T.). . . . 

Q, How much did the machinery cost? 

A. Roughly speaking, $150 or $200. . . . 

Q. What would be the cost of making one and filUng it with 
explosives? 

A. About $250 each. ... If they had given me money 
enough I should simply have been able to block the shipping entirely. 

Q. Do you mean you could have destroyed every ship that 
left the harbor by means of those bombs? 

A. I would have been able to stop so many that the authorities 
would not have dared (to send out any ships). 

It was proved during Fay's trial that his bomb was a practical 
device, and that its forty pounds of explosive would sink any ship 
to which it was attached. 

Fay and his accomphces, Scholz and Daeche, were convicted 
of conspiracy to attach explosive bombs to the rudders of vessels, 
with the intention of wrecking the same when at sea, and were 
sentenced, on May 9, 1916, to terms of eight, four and two years 
respectively, in the federal penitentiary at Atlanta. Dr. Herbert 
Kienzle and Max Breitung, who assisted Fay in procuring explo- 
sives, were indicted on the same charge. Both were interned. 

Another plan for disabling ships was suggested by a man who 
remained for some time unknown. He called one day at the German 
Mihtary Information Bureau, maintained at 60 Wall Street by 
Captain von Papen, of the German embassy, and there gave the 
following outUne of his plan: 

"I intend to cause serious damage to vessels of the Allies 
leaving ports of the United States by placing bombs, which I am 



n 



a S 
a 1-3 

CD h^ 

^<^ t 
p o 2, 

on (B P^ 

rt < s: 

^ c o 

5"b E- 

2 « 2 
111 

r,2 - 



K1 



PBS 
CE g B 

IB B" 

B £t I 
P^ I 

1° ' 

is 

B S 

^ B 

p'o* 

fD B^ 
3 3> 

is- 





■■IB' 


^ 




r 


>i^??l^aIT^^ 














;*# 






■Ik^ 






1 




^^■'-Mifth- 











05 3 



o3 0) 






PLOTS AND PROPAGANDA 243 

making myself, on board. These bombs resemble ordinary lumps 
of coal and I am planning to have them concealed in the coal to be 
laden on steamers of the Allies. I have already discussed this 
plan with . . . at . . . and he thinks favorably of my 
idea. I have been engaged on similar work in . . . after the 
outbreak of the war, together with Mr. von . , . ." 

The German secret service report from which the above 
excerpt is taken states that the maker of the bomb was paid by 
check No. 146 for $150 drawn on the Riggs National Bank of 
Washington. A photogTaphic copy of this check shows that it 
was payable to Paul Koenig, of the Hamburg-American Lihe, and 
was signed by Captain von Papen. On the counterfoil is written 
this memorandum, "For F. J. Busse." Busse confessed later 
that he had discussed with Captain von Papen at the German 
Club in New York City the plan of damaging the boilers of munition 
ships with bombs which resembled lumps of coal. 

Free access to AlUed ships laden with suppUes for Vladivostok 
would have been invaluable to the conspirators, and in order to 
obtain it Charles C. Crowley, a detective employed by Consul- 
General Bopp, resorted to the extraordinary scheme revealed in the 
following letter to Madam Bakhmeteff, wife of the Russian 
Ambassador to the United States : 

Mme J. Bakhmeteff, care Imperial Russian Embassy, Newport, R. I.: 

Dear Madam :— By direction of the Imperial Russian Consul-General 
of San Francisco, I beg to submit the following on behalf of several fruit- 
growers of the State of California. As it is the wish of certain growers 
to contribute several tons of dried fruit to the Russian Red Cross they 
desire to have arrangements made to facilitate the transportation of this 
fruit from Tacoma, Washington, to Vladivostok, and as we are advised 
that steamships are regularly plying between Tacoma and Vladivostok 
upon which government supplies are shipped we would like to have 
arrangements made that these fruits as they might arrive would be regu- 
larly consigned to these steamers and forwarded. It would be necessary, 
therefore, that an understanding be had with the agents of these steam- 
ship lines at Tacoma that immediate shipments be made via whatever 
steamers might be saiKng. 

It is the desire of the donors that there be no delay in the shipments 
as delays would lessen the benefits intended to those for whom the fruit 
was provided. ... 

Respectfully yours, 

C. C. Crowley. 



244 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR 

The statements of Louis J. Smith and van Koolbergen, com- 
bined with a mass of other evidence consisting in part of letters 
and telegrams, caused the grand jury to indict Consul-General 
Bopp, his staff and his hired agents, for conspiracy to undertake 
a mihtary enterprise against Canada. Among the purposes of this 
enterprise specified in the indictment was the following: 

''To blow up and destroy with their cargoes and crews any 
and all vessels belonging to Great Britain, France, Japan or Russia 
found within the hmits of Canada, which were laden with horses, 
munitions of war, or articles of commerce in course of transporta- 
tion to the above countries. . . ." 

The following descriptions have been made by the United 
States Government of the tools of von Bernstorff in German plots : 

Paul Koenig, the head of the Hamburg-American secret serv- 
ice, who was active in passport frauds, who induced Gustave Stahl 
to perjure himself and declare the Lusitania armed, and who plotted 
the destruction of the Welland Canal. In his work as a spy he 
passed under thirteen aliases in this country and Canada. 

Captains Boy-Ed, von Papen, von Rintelen, Tauscher, and von 
Igel were all directly connected with the German Government itself. 
There is now in the possession of the United States Government 
a check made out to Koenig and signed by von Papen, identified 
by number in a secret report of the German Bureau of Investiga- 
tion as being used to procure $150 for the payment of a bomb- 
maker, who was to plant explosives disguised as coal in the bunkers 
of the merchant vessels clearing from the port of New York. 
Boy-Ed, Dr. Bunz, the German ex-minister to Mexico, the German 
consul at San Francisco, and officials of the Hamburg-American 
and North German Lloyd steamship fines evaded customs regula- 
tions and coaled and victualed German raiders at sea. Von Papen 
and von Igel supervised the making of the incendiary bombs on 
the Friedrich der Grosse, then in New York Harbor, and stowed 
them away on outgoing ships. Von Rintelen financed Labor's 
National Peace Council, which tried to corrupt legislators and 
labor leaders. 

A lesser light of this galaxy was Robert Fay, who invented an 
explosive contrivance which he tied to the rudder posts of vessels. 
According to his confession and that of his partner in murder, 
the money came from the German secret poHce. 



PLOTS AND PROPAGANDA 245 

Among the other tools of the German plotters were David 
Lamar and Henry Martin, who, in the pay of Captain von Rintelen, 
organized and managed the so-called Labor's National Peace 
Council, which sought to bring about strikes, an embargo on 
munitions^ and a boycott of the banks which subscribed to the 
Anglo-French loan. A check for $5,000 to J. F. J. Archibald for 
propaganda work, and a receipt from Edwin Emerson, the war 
correspondent, for $1,000 traveling expenses were among the docu- 
ments found in Wolf von IgeFs possession. 

Others who bore English names were persuaded to take 
leading places in similar organizations which concealed their origin 
and real purpose. The American Embargo Conference arose out 
of the ashes of Labor's Peace Council, and its president was 
American, though the funds were not. Others tampered with 
were journalists who lent themselves to the German propaganda 
and who went so far as to serve as couriers between the Teutonic 
embassies in Washington and the governments in Berlin and 
Vienna. A check of $5,000 was discovered which Count von 
Bernstorff had sent to Marcus Braun, editor of Fair Play. And a 
letter was discovered which George Sylvester Viereck, editor of the 
Fatherland, sent to Privy Councilor Albert, the German agent, 
arranging for a monthly subsidy of $1,750, to be dehvered to him 
through the hands of intermediaries — women whose names he 
abbreviates 'Ho prevent any possible inquiry." There is a record 
of $3,000 paid through the German embassy to finance the lecture 
tour of Miss Ray Beveridge, an American artist, who was further 
to be suppHed with German war pictures. 

The German propagandists also directed their efforts to poison- 
ing the minds of the people through the circulation of lies con- 
cerning affairs in France and at home. Here are some of the 
rumors circulated throughout the country that were nailed as 
falsehoods: 

It was said that the national registration of women by the 
Food Administration was to find out how much money each had 
in the bank, how much of this was owed, and everything about 
each registrant's personal affairs. 

That the millions collected from the public for the Red Cross 
went into the pockets of thieves, and that the soldiers and sailors 
got none of it, nor any of its benefits. 



246 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR 

That base hospital units had been annihilated while en route 
overseas. 

That leading members of other hospital units had been executed 
as spies by the American Government. 

That canned goods put up by the housewives were to be 
seized by the government and appropriated to the use of the army 
and navy. 

That soldiers in training were being instructed to put out the 
eyes of every German captm-ed. 

That all of the "plums'* at the officers' training camps fell 
to Roman CathoHcs. The plums went to Protestants when the 
propagandist talked to a Catholic. 

That the registration of women was held so that girls would 
be enticed into the cities where white slaves were made of them. 

That the battleship Pennsylvania had been destroyed with 
everyone on board by a German submarine. 

That more than seventy-five per cent of the American soldiers 
in France had been infected with venereal diseases. 

That intoxicants were given freely to American soldiers in 
Y. M. C. A. and Knights of Columbus huts in France. 

But the hes and the plots failed to make any impression on 
the morale of American citizenry. In fact, America from the 
moment war was declared against Germany until the time an 
armistice was declared, seemed to care for nothing but results. 
Charges of graft made with bitter invective in Congress created 
scarcely more than a ripple. The harder the pro-German plotters 
worked for the destruction of property and the incitement to labor 
disturbances, the closer became the protective network of Ameri- 
canism against these anti-war influences. After half a dozen German 
lies had been casually passed from mouth to mouth as rumors, 
the American people came to look upon other mischievous propa- 
ganda in its true Hght. Patriotic newspapers in every community 
exposed the false reports and citizens everywhere were on their 
guard against the misstatements. It was noticeable that the 
propaganda was intensified just previous to and during the several 
Liberty Loan campaigns. Proof that the American spirit rises 
superior to anti-American influences is furnished by the glorious 
records of these Liberty Loans. Every one was over-subscribed 
despite the severest handicaps confronted by any nation. 



CHAPTER XVI 
Sinking op the Litsitania 

THE United States was brought face to face with the Great 
War and with what it meant in ruthless destruction of hfe 
when, on May 7, 1915, the crack Cunard Liner Lusitania, 
bound from New York to Liverpool, with 1,959 persons 
aboard, was torpedoed and sunk by a German submarine off 
Old Head of Kinsale, Southwestern Ireland. Two torpedoes 
reached their mark. The total number of lives lost when the ship 
sunk was 1,198. Of these 755 were passengers and the remainder 
were members of the crew. Of the drowned passengers, 124 were 
Americans and 35 were infants. 

" Remember the Lusitania!" later became a battlecry just as 
"Remember the Maine!" acted as a spur to Americans during 
the war with Spain. It was first used by the famous " Black 
Watch" and later American troops shouted it as they went 
into battle. 

The sinking of the Lusitania, with its attendant destruction 
of life, sent a thrill of horror through the neutral peoples of the 
world. General opposition to the use of submarines in attacking 
peaceful shipping, especially passenger vessels, crystalUzed as the 
result of the tragedy, and a critical diplomatic controversy between 
the United States and Germany developed. The American Govern- 
ment signified its determination to break off friendly relations with 
the German Empire unless the ruthless practices of the submarine 
commanders were terminated. Germany temporarily agreed to 
discontinue these practices. 

Among the victims of the Cunarder's destruction were some 
of the best known personages of the Western Hemisphere. Alfred 
Gwynne Vanderbilt, multimillionaire; Charles Frohman, noted 
theatrical manager; Charles Klein, dramatist, who wrote *'The 
Lion and the Mouse;" Justus Miles Forman, author, and Elbert 
Hubbard, known as Fra Elbertus, widely read iconoclastic writer, 
were drowned. 

247 



248 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR 

The ocean off the pleasant southern coast of Ireland was 
dotted with bodies for days after the sinking of the Hner. The 
remains of many of the victims, however, never were recovered. 

When the Lusitania prepared to sail from New York on her 
last trip, fifty anonymous telegrams addressed to prominent 
persons aboard the vessel warned the recipients not to sail with the 
liner. In addition to these warnings was an advertisement 
inserted in the leading metropolitan newspapers by the German 
embassy, advising neutral persons that British steamships were 
in danger of destruction in the war zone about the British Isles. 
This notice appeared the day the Lusitania sailed. May 1st, and 
was placed next the advertisement of the Cunard Line. Following 
is the advertisement : 

NOTICE! 

/Travelers intending to embark on the Atlantic voyage are reminded 
that a state of war exists between Germany and her allies and Great 
Britain and her allies; that the zone of war includes the waters adjacent to 
the British Isles; that, in accordance with formal notice given by the 
Imperial German Government, vessels flying the flag of Great Britain, 
or of any of her allies, are liable to destruction in those waters and that 
travelers sailing in the war zone on ships of Great Britain or her allies 
do so at their own risk. 

Imperial German Embassy, 
Washington, D. C, April 22, 1915. 

Little or no attention was paid to the warnings, only the 
usual number of persons canceling their reservations. The gen- 
eral agent of the Cunard Line at New York assured the passengers 
that the Lusitania' s voyage would be attended by no risk what- 
ever, referring to the liner's speed and water-tight compartments. 

As the great Cunarder drew near the scene of her disaster, 
traveling at moderate speed along her accustomed route, there 
was news of freight steamers falhng victims to Germany's undersea 
campaign. It was not definitely established, however, whether 
the liner was warned of danger. 

At two o'clock on the fine afternoon of May 7th, some ten miles 
off the Old Head of Kinsale, the Lusitania was sighted by a sub- 
marine 1,000 yards away. A second later the track of a tor- 
pedo, soon followed by another, was seen and each missile crashed 
into the Lusitania' s hull with rending detonations. 



SINKING OF THE LUSITANIA 249 

Many were killed or injured immediately by the explosions. 
Before the liner's headway was lost, some boats were lowered, 
and capsized as a result. The immediate listing of the steamship 
added to the difficulties of rescue and increased the tragical toll 
of dead. 

Much heroism and calmness were displayed by many in the 
few minutes the liner remained afloat. The bearing of Frohman, 
Vanderbilt, Hubbard and other Americans was declared to have 
been particularly inspiring. 

Rescue ships and naval vessels rushed to the aid of the sur- 
vivors from all nearby ports of Ireland. 

It has been said that the sinking of the Lusitania was carefully 
planned by the chiefs of the German admiralty. They expected, 
it was believed, to demoralize British shipping and strike terror 
into the minds of the British people by showing that the largest 
and swiftest of liners could easily be destroyed by submarines. 

According to the Paris paper, La Guerre Sociale, published 
by Gustave Herve, the submarine responsible was the U-21, com- 
manded by Lieutenant Hersing. Hersing was said to have been 
decorated for his deed. The U-21 afterwards was destroyed and 
the story of its participation in the sinking of the great Cunarder 
never was confirmed. 

Immediately upon the news of the Lusitania disaster, President 
Wilson took steps to hold Germany to that "strict accountabiUty" 
of which he had notified Berlin when the war-zone operations were 
begun earlier in the year. His first communication, protesting 
against the sinking of the liner in the name of humanity and 
demanding disavowal, indemnity and assurance that the crime 
would not be repeated, was despatched on May 13th. On May 
30th the German reply argued that the liner carried munitions of 
war and probably was armed. 

The following official German version of the incident by the 
German Admiralty Staff over the signature of Admiral Behncke 
was given: 

"The submarine sighted the steamer, which showed no flag. 
May 7th, at 2.20 o'clock. Central European time, afternoon, on the 
southeast coast of Ireland, in fine, clear weather. 

"At 3.10 o'clock one torpedo was fired at the Lusitania, 
which hit her starboard side below the captain's bridge. The 



250 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR 

detonation of the torpedo was followed immediately by a fm-ther 
explosion of extremely strong effect. The ship quickly Hsted to 
starboard and began to sink. 

''The second explosion must be traced back to the ignition 
of quantities of ammunition inside the ship." 

These extenuations were all rejected by the United States, 
and the next note prepared by President Wilson was of such char- 
acter that Secretary of State Bryan resigned. This second com- 
munication was sent on June 11th, and on June 22d another was 
cabled. September 1st Germany accepted the contentions of the 
United States in regard to submarine warfare upon peaceful 
shipping. There were continued negotiations concerning the 
specific settlement to be made in the case of the Lusitania. 

On February 4th, 1916, arrived a German proposition which, 
coupled with personal parleys carried on between German Ambassa- 
dor von Bernstorff and United States Secretary of State Lansing, 
seemed in a fair way to conclude the whole controversy. It was 
announced on February 8th that the two nations were in substantial 
accord and Germany was declared to have admitted the sinking 
of the liner was wrong and unjustified and promised that repara- 
tion would be made. 

However, a week later, when Germany took advantage of 
tentative American proposals concerning the disarming of merchant 
ships, by announcing that all armed hostile merchantmen would be 
treated as warships and attacked without warning, the almost 
completed agreement was overthrown. The renewed negotiations 
were continuing when the torpedoing of the cross-channel passenger 
ship Sussex, without warning, on March 24th, impelled the United 
States to issue a virtual ultimatum, demanding that the Germans 
immediately cease their present methods of naval warfare on pain 
of the rupture of diplomatic relations with the most powerful 
existing neutral nation. 

The Lusitania, previous to her sinking, had figured in the 
war news, first at the conflict, when it was feared she had been 
captured by a German cruiser while she was dashing across the 
Atlantic toward Liverpool, and again in February of 1915, when 
she flew the American flag as a ruse to deceive submarines while 
crossing the Irish Sea. This latter incident called forth a protest 
from the United States. 



SINKING OF THE LUSITANIA 251 

On her fatal trip the cargo of the Lusitania was worth $735,000. 

As a great transatlantic liner, the Lusitania was a product of 
the race for speed, which was carried on for years among larger 
steamship companies, particularly of England and Germany. 
"When the Lusitania was launched, it was the wonder of the mari- 
time world. Its mastery of the sea, from the standpoint of speed, 
was undisputed. 

Progress of the Lusitania on its first voyage to New York, 
September 7, 1907, was watched by the world. The vessel made 
the voyage in five days and fifty-four minutes, at that time a 
record. Its fastest trip, made on the western voyage, was four 
days eleven hours forty-two minutes. This record, however, 
was wrested from it subsequently by the Mauretania, a sister ship, 
which set the mark of four days ten hours forty-one minutes, that 
still stands. 

Although the Lusitania was surpassed in size by several other 
hners built subsequently, it never lost the reputation acquired 
at the outset of its career. Its speed and luxurious accommoda- 
tions made it a favorite, and its passenger lists bore the names of 
many of the most prominent Atlantic wayfarers. The vessel was 
pronounced by its builders to be as nearly unsinkable as any ship 
could be. 

Everything about the Lusitania was of colossal dimensions. 
Her rudder weighed sixty-five tons. She carried three anchors of 
ten tons each. The main frames and beams, placed end to end, 
would extend thirty miles. The Lusitania was 785 feet long, 
88 feet beam, and 60 feet deep. Her gross tonnage was 32,500 
and her net tonnage, 9,145. 

Charges were made that one or more guardian submarines 
deUberately drove off ships nearby which might have saved hundreds 
of fives lost when the Lusitania went down. Captain W. F. Wood, 
of the Leyland Line steamer Etonian, said his ship was prevented 
from going to the rescue of the passengers of the sinking Lusitania 
by a warning that an attack might be made upon his own vessel. 

The Etonian left Liverpool, May 6th. When Captain Wood 
was forty-two miles from Kinsale he received a wireless call from 
the Lusitania for immediate assistance. 

The call was also picked up by the steamers City of Exeter 
and Narragansett. The Narragansett, Captain Wood said, was 



252 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR 

made a target for submarine attack, a torpedo missing her by a 
few feet, and her commander then warned Captain Wood not to 
attempt to reach the Lusitania. 

''It was two o'clock in the afternoon. May 7th, that we received 
the wireless S S," said Captain Wood. ''I was then forty-two 
miles distant from the position he gave me. The Narragansett 
and the City of Exeter were nearer the Lusitania and she answered 
the SOS. 

''At five o'clock I observed the City of Exeter cross our bows 
and she signaled, 'Have you heard anything of the disaster?' 

"At that moment I saw a periscope of a submarine between 
the Tonina and the City of Exeter, about a quarter of a mile directly 
ahead of us. She dived as soon as she saw us. 

"I signaled to the engine room for every available inch of 
speed. Then we saw the submarine come up astern of us. I 
now ordered full speed ahead and we left the submarine behind. 
The periscope remained in sight about twenty minutes. 

"No sooner had we lost sight of the submarine astern, than 
another appeared on the starboard bow. This one was directly 
ahead and on the surface, not submerged. 

"I starboarded hard away from him, he swinging as we did. 
About eight minutes later he submerged. I continued at top 
speed for four hours and saw no more of the submarines. It was 
the ship's speed that saved her, that's all. 

"The Narragansett, as soon as she heard the SOS call, went 
to the assistance of the Lusitania. One of the submarines dis- 
charged a torpedo at her and missed her by not more than eight 
feet. The Narragansett then warned us not to attempt to go to 
the rescue, and I got her wireless call while I was dodging the two 
submarines. You can see that three ships would have gone to the 
assistance of the Lusitania had they not been attacked by the two 
submarines." 

The German Government defended the brutal destruction of 
non-combatants by the false assertions that the Lusitania was 
an armed vessel and that it was carrying a great store of munitions. 
Both of these accusations were proved to be mere fabrications. 
The Lusitania was absolutely unarmed and the nearest approach to 
munitions was a consignment of 1,250 empty shell cases and 4,200 
cases of cartridges for small arms. 



SINKING OF THE LUSITANIA 253 

Intense indignation swept over the neutral world, the tide 
rising highest in America. It well may be said that the destruc- 
tion of the Lusitania was one of the greatest factors in driving 
America into the war with Germany. 

Concerning the charge that the Lusitania carried munitions, 
Dudley Field Malone, Collector of the port of New York, testified 
that he made personal and close inspection of the ship's cargo and 
saw that it carried no guns and that there were no munitions in 
its cargo. 

His statement follows: 

"This report is not correct. The Lusitania was inspected 
before sailing, as is customary. No guns were found, mounted 
or unmounted, and the vessel sailed without any armament. No 
merchant ship would be allowed to arm in this port and leave the 
harbor." 

Captain W. T. Turner, of the Lusitania, testifying before the 
coroner's inquest at Ejnsale, Ireland, was interrogated as follows: 

''You were aware threats had been made that the ship would 
be torpedoed?" 

"We were," the Captain replied. 

"Was she armed?" 

"No, SU-." 

"What precautions did you take?" 

"We had all the boats swung when we came within the danger 
zone, between the passing of Fastnet and the time of the accident." 

The coroner asked him whether he had received a message 
concerning the sinking of a ship off Kinsale by a submarine. Cap- 
tain Turner replied that he had not. 

"Did you receive any special instructions as to the voyage?" 

"Yes, sir." 

"Are you at liberty to tell us what they were?" 

"No, sir." 

"Did you carry them out?" 

"Yes, to the best of my ability." 

"Tell us in your own words what happened after passing 
Fastnet." 

"The weather was clear," Captain Turner answered. "We 
were going at a speed of eighteen knots. I was on the port side 
and heard Second Officer Hefford call out: 



254 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR 

" 'Here's a torpedo!' 

"I ran to the other side and saw clearly the wake of a torpedo. 
Smoke and steam came up between the last two funnels. There 
was a sHght shock. Immediately after the first explosion there 
was another report, but that may possibly have been internal. 

"I at once gave the order to lower the boats down to the 
rails, and I directed that women and children should get into them. 
I also had all the bulkheads closed. 

" '^ Between the time of passing Fastnet, about 11 o'clock, and 
of the torpedoing I saw no sign whatever of any submarines. There 
was some haze along the Irish coast, and when we were near Fastnet 
I slowed down to fifteen knots. I was in wireless communication 
with shore all the way across." 

i Captain Turner was asked whether he had received any 
message in regard to the presence of submarines off the Irish coast. 
He replied in the affirmative. Questioned regarding the nature of 
the message, he replied: 

"I respectfully refer you to the admiralty for an answer.'* 

"I also gave orders to stop the ship," Captain Turner con- 
tinued, ''but we could not stop. We found that the engines were 
out of commission. It was not safe to lower boats until the speed 
was off the vessel. As a matter of fact, there was a perceptible 
headway on her up to the time she went down. 

"When she was struck she hsted to starboard. I stood on 
the bridge when she sank, and the Lusitania went down under me. 
She floated about eighteen minutes after the torpedo struck her. 
My watch stopped at 2.36. I was picked up from among the 
wreckage and afterward was brought aboard a trawler. 

"No warship was convoying us. I saw no warship, and none 
was reported to me as having been seen. At the time I was picked 
up I noticed bodies floating on the surface, but saw no living 
persons." 

"Eighteen knots was not the normal speed of the Lusitania, 
was it?" 

"At ordinary times," answered Captain Turner, "she could 
make twenty-five knots, but in war times her speed was reduced to 
twenty-one knots. My reason for going eighteen knots was that I 
wanted to arrive at Liverpool bar without stopping, and within two 
or three hours of high water." 



SINKING OF THE LUSITANIA 255 

"Was there a lookout kept for submarines, having regard to 
previous warnings?" 

"Yes, we had double lookouts." 

"Were you going a zigzag course at the moment the torpedo- 
ing took place?" 

"No. It was bright weather, and land was clearly visible." 

"Was it possible for a submarine to approach without being 
seen?" 

"Oh, yes; quite possible." 

"Something has been said regarding the impossibility of 
launching the boats on the port side?" 

"Yes," said Captain Turner, "owing to the listing of the 
ship." 

"How many boats were launched safely?" 

"I cannot say." 

"Were any launched safely?" 

"Yes, and one or two on the port side." 

"Were your orders promptly carried out?" 
. "Yes." ^ 

"Was there any panic on board?" 

"No, there was no panic at all. It was almost calm." 

"How many persons were on board?" 

"There were 1,500 passengers and about 600 crew." 

By the Foreman of the Jury — "In the face of the warnings 
at New York that the Lusitania would be torpedoed, did you make 
any application to the admiralty for an escort?" 

"No, I left that to them. It is their business, not mine. 
I simply had to carry out my orders to go, and I would do it again." 

Captain Turner uttered the last words of this reply with 
great emphasis. 

By the Coroner — "I am glad to hear you say so, Captain." 

By the Juryman — "Did you get a wireless to steer your vessel 
in a northern direction?" 

"No," repUed Captain Turner. 

"Was the course of the vessel altered after the torpedoes 
struck her?" 

"I headed straight for land, but it was useless. Previous 
to this the watertight bulkheads were closed. I suppose the explo- 



256 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR 

sion forced them open. I don't know the exact extent to which 
the Lusitania was damaged." 

''There must have been serious damage done to the water- 
tight bulkheads?" 

''There certainly was, without doubt." 

"Were the passengers supplied with lifebelts?" 

"Yes." 

"Were any special orders given that morning that lifebelts 
be put on?" 

"No." 

"Was any warning given before you were torpedoed?" 

"None whatever. It was suddenly done and finished." 

"If there had been a patrol boat about, might it have been of 
assistance?" 

"It might, but it is one of those things one never knows." 

With regard to the threats against his ship, Captain Turner 
said he saw nothing except what appeared in the New York papers 
the day before the Lusitania sailed. He had never heard the 
passengers talking about the threats, he said. 

"Was a warning given to the lower decks after the ship had 
been struck?" Captain Turner was asked. 

"All the passengers must have heard the explosion," Captain 
Turner replied. 

Captain Turner, in answer to another question, said he 
received no report from the lookout before the torpedo struck the 
Lusitania. 

Ship's Bugler Livermore testified that the watertight com- 
partments were closed, but that the explosion and the force of 
the water must have burst them open. He said that all the officers 
were at their posts and that earlier arrivals of the rescue craft 
would not have saved the situation. 

After physicians had testified that the victims had met death 
through prolonged immersion and exhaustion the coroner sununed 
up the case. 

He said that the first torpedo fired by the German submarine 
did serious damage to the Lusitania, but that, not satisfied with 
this, the Germans had discharged another torpedo. The second 
torpedo, he said, must have been more deadly, because it went 
right through the ship, hastening the work of destruction. 



SINKING OF THE LUSITANIA 257 

The characteristic courage of the Irish and British people 
was manifested at the time of this terrible disaster, the coroner 
continued, and there was no panic. He charged that the respon- 
sibility "lay on the German Government and the whole people 
of Germany, who collaborated in the terrible crime." 

'T propose to ask the jury," he continued, "to return the 
only verdict possible for a self-respecting jury, that the men in 
charge of the German submarine were guilty of wilful murder." 

The jury then retired and after due deliberation prepared this 
verdict : 

We find that the deceased met death from prolonged immersion and 
exhaustion in the sea eight miles south-southeast of Old Head of Kinsale, 
Friday, May 7, 1915, owing to the sinking of the Lusitania by torpedoes 
fired by a German submarine. 

We find that the appalling crime was committed contrary to inter- 
national law and the conventions of all civilized nations. 

We also charge the officers of said submarine and the Emperor and 
the Government of Germany, under whose orders they acted, with the 
crime of wholesale murder before the tribunal of the civilized world. 

We desire to express sincere condolences and sympathy with the 
relatives of the deceased, the Cunard Company, and the United States, 
many of whose citizens perished in this murderous attack on an unarmed 
liner. 

President Wilson's note to Germany, written consequent on 
the torpedoing of the Lusitania, was dated six days later, showing 
that time for careful deliberation was duly taken. The President's 
Secretary, Joseph P. Tumulty, on May 8th, the day following 
the tragedy, made this statement: 

Of course the President feels the distress and the gravity of the 
situation to the utmost, and is considering very earnestly but very 
calmly, the right course of action to pursue. He knows that the people 
of the country wish and expect him to act with deliberation as well as 
with firmness. 

Although signed by Mr. Bryan, as Secretary of State, the note 
was written by the President in shorthand — a favorite method of 
Mr. Wilson in making memoranda — and transcribed by him on his 
own typewriter. The document was presented to the members 
of the President's Cabinet, a draft of it was sent to Counselor 
Lansing of the State Department, and after a few minor changes, 
it was transmitted by cable to Ambassador Gerard in Berlin. 



258 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR 

Department of State, 
Washington, May 13, 1915. 

The Secretary of State to the American Ambassador at Berlin: 

Please call on the Minister of Foreign Affairs and after reading to 
him this communication leave with him a copy. 

In view of recent acts of the German authorities in violation of 
American rights on the high seas, which culminated in the torpedoing 
and sinking of the British steamship Lusitania on May 7, 1915, by which 
over 100 American citizens lost their lives, it is clearly wise and desirable 
that the Government of the United States and the Imperial German 
Government should come to a clear and full understanding as to the 
grave situation which has resulted. 

The sinking of the British passenger steamer Falaba by a German 
submarine on March 28th, through which Leon C. Thrasher, an American 
citizen, was drowned; the attack on April 28th, on the American vessel 
Gushing by a German aeroplane; the torpedoing on May 1st of the Ameri- 
can vessel Gulflight by a German submarine, as a result of which two or 
more American citizens met their death; and, finally, the torpedoing and 
sinking of the steamship Lusitania, constitute a series of events which 
the Government of the United States has observed with growing con- 
cern, distress, and amazement. 

i ' Recalling the himiane and enlightened attitude hitherto assumed by 
the Imperial German Government in matters of international right, 
and particularly with regard to the freedom of the seas; having learned 
to recognize the German views and the German influence in the field of 
international obHgation as always engaged upon the side of justice and 
humanity; and having understood the instructions of the Imperial 
German Government to its naval commanders to be upon the same plane 
of humane action prescribed by the naval codes of the other nations, the 
Government of the United States was loath to believe — ^it cannot now 
bring itself to believe — that these acts, so absolutely contrary to the 
rules, the practices, and the spirit of mxodern warfare, could have the 
countenance, or sanction of that great government. It feels it to be its 
duty, therefore, to address the Imperial German Government concerning 
them with the utmost frankness and in the earnest hope that it is not 
mistaken in expecting action on the part of the Imperial German Govern- 
ment, which will correct the unfortunate impressions which have been 
created, and vindicate once more the position of that government with 
regard to the sacred freedom of the seas. 

The Government of the United States has been apprised that the 
Imperial German Government considered themselves to be obliged by 
the extraordinary circumstances of the present war and the measure 
adopted by their adversaries in seeking to cut Germany off from all 
commerce, to adopt methods of retaliation which go much beyond the 
ordinary methods of warfare at sea, in the proclamation of a war zone 



£3 S 




p ^ , 




sl^ 




►5 Aco 




t? O B 




kin 
ism 




^ C n 








^'E.=+ 




£r'i=it3- 








g-pS- 




SIS'?? 




•-J ci-(n 




fC 1-s to 




O P ct- 




t-t- )— 1 








'^g 5' 




fT^.S? 




CbO 




— P o- 




o ^'< 




r^B ^ 




tyC3 




a. &-0 




ffl> O (B 




B >-i ►^ 




man 
ysta 
itry : 








5.Km 




??■ t*" C 




O re g- 


H 






^2:0* 




e, wi 
icop 
"orld 


a 


thth 
inion 
War. 






^ 







<rt- m 




ij'm 




«P 




5? 




W.Q 




ST *^ 




CD 3 




0- 




<^^ 




ir 




S-e 




00 ,^ 




" 




g 




55 p 








KJ 1—1 




n S" 





t3 e5 



G &• 



PB 






SUBMARINE HUNTING 

A small naval dirigible used for scouting by the British Navy. Under the cigar- 
shaped balloon is swung an aeroplane chassis equipped with powerful motora ana 
steering apparatus, together with a light gun. 



SINKING OF THE LUSITANIA 261 

from which they have warned neutral ships to keep away. This govern- 
ment has ah-eady taken occasion to inform the Imperial German Govern- 
ment that it cannot admit the adoption of such measures or such a warn- 
ing of danger to operate as in any degree an abbreviation of the rights of 
American shipmasters or of American citizens bound on lawful errands 
as passengers on merchant ships of belligerent nationahty, and that it 
must hold the Imperial German Government to a strict accountabihty 
for any infringement of those rights, intentional or incidental. _ It does 
not understand the Imperial German Government to^ question these 
rights. It assumes, on the contrary, that the Imperial Government 
accept, as of course, the rule that the Hves of noncombatants, whether 
they be of neutral citizenship or citizens of one of the nations at war, 
cannot lawfuUy or rightfully be put in jeopardy by the capture or destruc- 
tion of an unarmed merchantman, and recognize also, as aU other nations 
do the obhgation to take the usual precaution of visit and search to 
ascertain whether a suspected merchantman is m fact of beUigerent 
nationahty or is in fact carrying contraband of war undera neutral flag. 
The Government of the United States, therefore, desu-es to caU the 
attention of the Imperial German Government with the utmost earnest- 
ness to the fact that the objection to theh: present method of attack against 
the trade of their enemies Hes in the practical impossibility of employing 
submarines in the destruction of commerce without disregarding those 
rules of fairness, reason, justice, and humanity which all modern opimon 
regards as imperative. It is practicaUy impossible for the officers of a 
submarine to visit a merchantman at sea and examine her papers and 
cargo. It is practically impossible for them to make a prize of her; and, 
if they cannot put a prize crew on board of her, they cannot sink her 
without leaving her crew and all on board of her to the mercy of the sea 
in her smaU boats. These facts, it is understood, the Iniperial German 
Government frankly admit. We are informed that m the mstances of 
which we have spoken time enough for even that poor measure of safety 
was not given, and in at least two of the cases cited not so much as a 
warning was received. Manifestly, submarines cannot be used against 
merchantmen, as the last few weeks have shown without an mevitable 
violation of many sacred principles of justice and humamty. ^ 

American citizens act within their indisputable rights ^ taking 
their ships and in travehng wherever their legitimate business calls them 
upon the high seas, and exercise those rights m what should be the well- 
iustified confidence that their Hves wiU not be endangered by acts done 
in clear violation of universally acknowledged international obhgations, 
and certainly in the confidence that thek own government wiU sustam 
them in the exercise of their rights. . ' 

There was recently pubhshed m the newspapers of the Umted btates, 
I regret to inform the Imperial German Government, a formal warning, 
pm-^rting to come from the Imperial German Embassy at Washington 
addressed to the people of the United States, and stating, m effect, that 



262 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR 

any citizen of the United States who exercised liis right of free travel upon 
the seas would do so at his peril if his journey should take him within the 
zone of waters within which the Imperial German Navy was using sub- 
marines against the commerce of Great Britain and France, notwithstand- 
ing the respectful but very earnest protest of the Government of the 
United States. I do not refer to this for the purpose of calling the atten- 
tion of the Imperial German Government at this time to the surprising 
irregularity of a communication from the Imperial German Embassy 
at Washington addressed to the people of the United States through 
the newspapers, but only for the purpose of pointing out that no warning 
that an unlawful and inhumane act will be committed can possibly be 
accepted as an excuse or palliation for that act or as an abatement of the 
responsibihty for its commission. 

Long acquainted as this government has been with the character 
of the Imperial Government, and with the high principles of equity by 
which they have in the past been actuated and guided, the Government 
of the United States cannot beheve that the commanders of the vessels 
which committed these acts of lav/lessness did so except under a mis- 
apprehension of the orders issued by the Imperial German naval authori- 
ties. It takes for granted that, at least within the practical possibilities 
of every such case, the commanders even of submarines were expected 
to do nothing that would involve the lives of noncombatants or the 
safety of neutral ships, even at the cost of failing of their object of capture 
or destruction. It confidently expects, therefore, that the Imperial Ger- 
man Government will disavow the acts of which the Government of the 
United States complains; that they will make reparation so far as repara- 
tion is possible for injuries which are without measure, and that they will 
take immediate steps to prevent the recurrence of anything so obviously 
subversive of the principles of warfare for which the Imperial German 
Government have in the past so wisely and so firmly contended. 

The government and people of the United States look to the Imperial 
German Govermnent for just, prompt, and enlightened action in this 
vital matter with the greater confidence, because the United States and 
Germany are bound together not only by ties of friendship, but also by 
the explicit stipulations of the Treaty of 1828, between the United States 
and the Kingdom of Prussia. 

Expressions of regret and offers of reparation in case of the destruc- 
tion of neutral ships sunk by mistake, while they may satisfy inter- 
national obHgations, if no loss of life results, cannot justify or excuse a 
practice the natural and necessary effect of which is to subject neutral 
nations and neutral persons to new and immeasurable risks. 

The Imperial German Government will not expect the Government 
of the United States to omit any word or any act necessary to the per- 
formance of its sacred duty of maintaining the rights of the United States 
and its citizens and of safeguarding their free exercise and enjoyment. 

Bryan. 



SINKING OF THE LUSITANIA 263 

Ex-President Roosevelt, after learning details of the sinking 
of the Lusitania, made these statements: 

"This represents not merely piracy, but piracy on a vaster 
scale of murder than old-time pirate ever practiced. This is the 
warfare which destroyed Louvain and Dinant and hundreds of 
men, women and children in Belgium. It is a warfare against 
innocent men, women, and children traveHng on the ocean, and 
our own fellowcountrymen and countrywomen, who were among 
the sufferers. 

"It seems inconceivable that we can refrain from taking 
action in this matter, for we owe it not only to humanity, but to 
our own national self-respect." 

Former President Taf t made this statement : 

"I do not wish to embarrass the President of the Administra- 
tion by a discussion of the subject at this stage of the information, 
except to express confidence that the President will follow a wise 
and patriotic course. We must bear in mind that if we have a war 
it is the people, the men and women, fathers and mothers, brothers 
and sisters, who must pay with Hves and money the cost of it, 
and therefore they should not be hurried into the sacrifices until 
it is made clear that they wish it and know what they are doing 
when they wish it. 

"I agree that the inhumanity of the circumstances in the 
case now presses us on, but in the heat of even just indignation 
is this the best time to act, when action involves such momentous 
consequences and means untold loss of Hfe and treasure? There 
are things worse than war, but delay, due to calm dehberation, 
cannot change the situation or minimize the effect of what we 
finally conclude to do. 

"With the present condition of the war in Europe, our action, 
if it is to be extreme, will not lose efficiency by giving time to the 
people, whose war it will be, to know what they are facing. 

"A demand for war that cannot survive the passion of the 
first days of pubhc indignation and will not endure the test of delay 
and deliberation by all the people is not one that should be yielded 
to." 

President Wilson was criticised later by many persons for 
not insisting upon a declaration of war immediately after the sink- 
ing of the Lusitania. Undoubtedly the advice of former President 



264 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR 

Taft and of others high in statesmanship, prevailed with the Presi- 
dent. This in substance was that America should prepare resolutely 
and thoroughly, giving Germany in the meantime no excuse for 
charges that America's entrance intothe conflict was for aggression 
or for selfish purposes. 

It was seen even as early as the sinking of the Lusitania that 
Germany's only hope for final success lay in the submarine. It 
was reasoned that unrestricted submarine warfare against the 
shipping of the world, so far as tended toward the provisioning and 
munitioning of the Allies, would be the inevitable outcome. It was 
further seen that when that declaration would be made by Germany, 
America's decision for war must be made. The President and his 
Cabinet thereupon made all their plans looking toward that 
eventuality. 

The resignation of Mr. Bryan from the Cabinet was followed 
by the appointment of Robert Lansing as Secretary of State. 
It was recognized on both sides of the Atlantic that President 
Wilson in all essential matters affecting the war was active in the 
preparation of all state papers and in the direction of that depart- 
ment. Another Cabinet vacancy was created when Lindley M. 
Garrison, of New Jersey, resigned the portf oho of Secretary of War 
because of a clash upon his militant views for preparedness. 
Newton D. Baker, of Cleveland, Ohio, a close friend and suppor- 
ter of President Wilson, was appointed in his stead. 



CHAPTER XVII 

Neuve Chapelle and War in Blood-Soaked Teenches 

A FTER the immortal stand of Joffre at the first battle of the 
/\ Marne and the sudden savage thrust at the German center 
f — \ which sent von Kluck and his men reeling back in retreat 
to the prepared defenses along the Kne of the Aisne, the 
war in the western theater resolved itself into a play for position 
from deep intrenchments. Occasionally would come a sudden big 
push by one side or the other in which artillery was massed until 
hub touched hub and infantry swept to glory and death in waves 
of gray, or blue or khaki as the case might be. But these tremendous 
efforts and consequent slaughters did not change the long battle 
line from the Alps to the North Sea materially. Here and there a 
bulge would be made by the terrific pressure of men and material 
in some great assault Uke that first push of the British at Neuve 
Chapelle, like the German attack at Verdun or like the tremendous 
efforts by both sides on that bloodiest of all battle-fields, the Somme. 
Neuve Chapelle deserves particular mention as the test in 
which the British soldiers demonstrated their might in equal con- 
test against the enemy. There had been a disposition in England 
as elsewhere up to that time to rate the Germans as supermen, 
to exalt the potency of the scientific equipment with which the 
German army had taken the field. When the battle of Neuve 
Chapelle had been fought, although its losses were heavy, there 
was no longer any doubt in the British nation that victory was 
only a question of time. 

The action came as a pendant to the attack by General de 
de Langle de Gary's French army during February, 1915, at Perthes, 
that had been a steady relentless pressure by artillery and infantry 
upon a strong German position. To meet it heavy reinforcements 
had been shifted by the Germans from the trenches between La 
Bass^ and Lille. The earthworks at Neuve Chapelle had been 
particularly depleted and only a comparatively small body of 
Saxons and Bavarians defended them. Opposite this body was 

265 



266 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR 

the first British army. The German intrenchments at Neuve 
Chapelle surrounded and defended the highlands upon which were 
placed the German batteries and in their turn defended the road 
towards Lille, Roubaix and Turcoing. 

The task assigned to Sir John French was to make an assault 
with only forty-eight thousand men on a comparatively narrow 
front. There was only one practicable method for effective prep- 
aration, and this was chosen by the British general. An artillery 
concentration absolutely unprecedented up to that time was 
employed by him. Field pieces firing at point-blank range were 
used to cut the barbed wire entanglements defending the enemy 
intrenchments, while howitzers and bombing airplanes were used 
to drop high explosives into the defenseless earthworks. 

Sir Douglas Haig, later to become the commander-in-chief 
of the British forces, was in command of the first army. Sir 
Horace Smith-Dorrien commanded the second army. It was the 
first army that bore the brunt of the attack. 

No engagement during the years on the western front was 
more sudden and surprising in its onset than that drive of the 
British against Neuve Chapelle. At seven o'clock on the morning 
of Wednesday, March 10, 1915, the British artillery was lazily 
engaged in lobbing over a desultory shell fire upon the German 
trenches. It was the usual breakfast appetizer, and nobody on 
the German side took any unusual notice of it. Really, however, 
the shelling was scientific "bracketing" of the enemy's important 
position. The gunners were making sure of their ranges. 

At 7.30 range finding ended, and with a roar that shook the 
earth the most destructive and withering artillery action of the 
war up to that time was on. Field pieces sending their shells 
hurthng only a few feet above the earth tore the wire emplacements 
of the enemy to pieces and made kindling wood of the supports. 
Howitzers sent high explosive shells, containing lyddite, of 15-inch, 
9.2-inch and 6-inch caliber into the doomed trenches and later 
into the mined village. It was eight o'clock in the morning, one- 
half hour after the beginning of the artillery action, that the village 
was bombarded. During this time British soldiers were enabled to 
walk about in No Man's Land behind the curtain of fire with 
absolute immunity. No German rifleman or machine gunner left 
cover. The scene on the German side of the line was like that 



NEUVE CHAPELLE AND WAR 



267 




268 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR 

upon the blasted surface of the moon, pock-marked with shell 
holes, and with no trace of human Hfe to be seen above ground. 

An eye witness describing the scene said: 

"The dawn, which broke reluctantly through a veil of clouds 
on the morning of Wednesday, March 10, 1915, seemed as any 
other to the Germans behind the white and blue sandbags in their 
long Hne of trenches curving in a hemicycle about the battered 
village of Neuve Chapelle. For five months they had remained 
undisputed masters of the positions they had here wrested from the 
British in October. Ensconced in their comfortably-arranged 
trenches with but a thin outpost in their fire trenches, they had 
watched day succeed day and night succeed night without the least 
variation from the monotony of trench warfare, the intermittent 
bark of the machine guns — rat-tat-tat-tat-tat — and the perpetual 
rattle of rifle fire, with here and there a bomb, and now and then 
an exploded mine. 

"For weeks past the German airmen had grown strangely shy. 
On this Wednesday morning none were aloft to spy out the strange 
doings which, as dawn broke, might have been descried on the 
desolate roads behind the British fines. 

"From ten o'clock of the preceding evening endless files of 
men marched silently down the roads leading towards the German 
positions through Laventie and Richebourg St. Vaast, poor shattered 
villages of the dead where months of incessant bombardment have 
driven away the last inhabitants and left roofless houses and rent 
roadways. . . . 

Two days before, a quiet room, where Nelson's Prayer 
stands on the mantel-shelf, saw the ripening of the plans that sent 
these sturdy sons of Britain's four kingdoms marching all through 
the night. Sir John French met the army corps commanders and 
unfolded to them his plans for the offensive of the British army 
against the German line at Neuve Chapelle. 

"The onslaught was to be a surprise. That was its essence. 
The Germans were to be battered with artillery, then rushed before 
they recovered their wits. We had thirty-six clear hours before 
us. Thus long, it was reckoned (with complete accuracy as after- 
wards appeared), must elapse before the Germans, whose fine 
before us had been weakened, could rush up reinforcements. To 
ensure the enemy's being pinned down right and left of the 'great 



NEUVE CHAPELLE AND WAR 



269 




MAP OF THE BATTLE FRONT BETWEEN ARMENTEERES 

AND LA BASSEE 

On the left, half way up the map, may be seen Neuve Chapelle; a little to 

the right of it is Aubers, where some of the sternest fighting occurred. 



270 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR 

push,' an attack was to be delivered north and south of the main 
thrust simultaneously with the assault on Neuve Chapelle." 

After describing the impatience of the British soldiers as they 
awaited the signal to open the attack, and the actual beginning of 
the engagement, the narrator continues: 

"Then hell broke loose. With a mighty, hideous, screeching 
burst of noise, hundreds of guns spoke. The men in the front 
trenches were deafened by the sharp reports of the field-guns spitting 
out their shells at close range to cut through the Germans' barbed 
wire entanglements. In some cases the trajectory of these vicious 
missiles was so flat that they passed only a few feet above the 
British trenches. 

''The din was continuous. An officer who had the curious 
idea of putting his ear to the ground said it was as though the 
earth were being smitten great blows with a Titan's hammer. 
After the first few shells had plunged screaming amid clouds of 
earth and dust into the German trenches, a dense pall of smoke 
hung over the German fines. The sickening fumes of lyddite 
blew back into the British trenches. In some places the troops 
were smothered in earth and dust or even spattered with blood from 
the hideous fragments of human bodies that went hm-tling through 
the air. At one point the upper half of a German officer, his cap 
crammed on his head, was blown into one of our trenches. 

"Words will never convoy any adequate idea of the horror of 
those five and thirty minutes. When the hands of officers' watches 
pointed to five minutes past eight, whistles resounded along the 
British fines. At the same moment the shells began to burst 
farther ahead, for, by previous arrangement, the gunners, lengthen- 
ing their fuses, were 'lifting' on to the viUage of Neuve Chapelle so 
as to leave the road open for our infantry to rush in and finish 
,what the guns had begun. 

"The shells were now falfing thick among the houses of Neuve 
Chapelle, a confused mass of buildings seen reddish through the 
pillars of smoke and flying earth and dust. At the sound of the 
whistle — alas for the bugle, once the herald of victory, now banished 
from the fray! — our men scrambled out of the trenches and hurried 
higgledy-piggledy into the open. Their officers were in front. 
Many, wearing overcoats and carrying rifles with fixed bayonets, 
closely resembled their men. 



NEUVE CHAPELLE AND WAR 271 

"It was from the center of our attacking line that the assault 
was pressed home soonest. The guns had done their work well. 
The trenches were blown to irrecognizable pits dotted with dead. 
The barbed wire had been cut like so much twine. Starting from 
the Rue Tilleloy the Lincolns and the Berkshires were off the mark 
first, with orders to swerve to right and left respectively as soon as 
they had captured the first line of trenches, in order to let the Royal 
Irish Rifles and the Rifle Brigade through to the village. The 
Germans left alive in the trenches, half demented with fright, 
siu-rounded by a welter of dead and dying men, mostly surrendered. 
The Berkshires were opposed with the utmost gallantry by two 
German officers who had remained alone in a trench serving a 
machine gun. But the lads from Berkshire made their way into 
that trench and bayoneted the Germans where they stood, fighting 
to the last. The Lincolns, against desperate resistance, eventually 
occupied their section of the trench and then waited for the Irish- 
men and the Rifle Brigade to come and take the village ahead of 
them. Meanwhile the second Thirty-ninth Garhwalis on the 
right had taken their trenches with a rush and were away towards 
the village and the Biez Wood. 

"Things had moved so fast that by the time the troops were 
ready to advance against the village the artillery had not finished 
its work. So, while the Lincolns and the Berks assembled the 
prisoners who were trooping out of the trenches in all directions, 
the infantry on whom devolved the honor of capturing the village, 
waited. One saw them standing out in the open, laughing and 
cracking jokes amid the terrific din made by the huge howitzer 
shells screeching overhead and bursting in the village, the rattle of 
machine guns all along the line, and the popping of rifles. Over 
to the right where the GarhwaUs had been working with the bayonet, 
men were shouting hoarsely and wounded were groaning as the 
stretcher-bearers, all heedless of bullets, moved swiftly to and fro 
over the shell-torn ground. 

"There was bloody work in the village of Neuve Chapelle. 
The capture of a place at the bayonet point is generally a grim 
business, in which instant, unconditional surrender is the only 
means by which bloodshed, a deal of bloodshed, can be prevented. 
If there is individual resistance here and there the attacking troops 
cannot discriminate. They mUst go through, slaying as they go 



m HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR 

such as oppose them (the Germans have a monopoly of the finish- 
ing-off of wounded men), otherwise the enemy's resistance would not 
be broken, and the assailants would be sniped and enfiladed from 
hastily prepared strongholds at half a dozen different points. 

"The village was a sight that the men say they will never 
forget. It looked as if an earthquake had struck it. The pub- 
lished photographs do not give any idea of the indescribable mass 
of ruins to which our guns reduced it. The chaos is so utter that 
the very line of the streets is all but obliterated. 

"It was indeed a scene of desolation into which the Rifle 
Brigade — the first regiment to enter the village, I beheve — traced 
headlong. Of the church only the bare shell remained, the interior 
lost to view beneath a gigantic mound of debris. The httle church- 
yard was devastated, the very dead plucked from their graves, 
broken coffins and ancient bones scattered about amid the fresher 
dead, the slain of that morning — grey-green forms asprawl athwart 
the tombs. Of all that once fair village but two things remained 
intact — two great crucifixes reared aloft, one in the churchyard, 
the other over against the chateau. From the cross that is the 
emblem of our faith, the figure of Christ, yet intact though all 
pitted with bullet marks, looked down in mute agony on the slain 
in the village. 

"The din and confusion were indescribable. . Through the 
thick pall of shell smoke Germans were seen on all sides, some 
emerging half dazed from cellars and dugouts, their hands above 
their heads, others dodging round the shattered houses, others 
firing from the windows, from behind carts, even from behind the 
overturned tombstones. Machine guns were firing from the houses 
on the outskirts, rapping out their nerve-racking note above the 
noise of the rifles. 

"Just outside the village there was a scene of tremendous 
enthusiasm. The Rifle Brigade, smeared with dust and blood, fell 
in with the Third Gurkhas with whom they had been brigaded in 
India. The Httle brown men were dirty but radiant. Kukri in 
hand they had very thoroughly gone through some houses at the 
cross-roads on the Rue du Bois and silenced a party of Germans 
who were making themselves a nuisance there with some machine 
guns. Riflemen and Gurkhas cheered themselves hoarse.'* 

Unfortunately for the complete success of the brilUant attack 



NEUVE CHAPELLE AND WAR 



273 




SCENE OF THE BLOODY BATTLES OF THE SOMME 

The tide of war swept over this terrain with terrific violence. Peronne 
was taken by the British in their great offensives of 1916-17; in the last 
desperate effort of the Germans in 1918 they plunged through Peronne, 
advancing 35 miles, only to be hurled back with awful losses by Marshal 
Foch. The town of Albert was taken and retaken several times. 



274 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR 

a great delay was caused by the failure of the artillery that was to 
have cleared the barbed wire entanglements for the Twenty-third 
Brigade, and because of the unlooked for destruction of the British 
field telephone system by shell and rifle fire. The check of the 
Twenty-third Brigade banked other commands back of it, and the 
Twenty-fifth Brigade was obliged to fight at right angles to the 
hne of battle. The Germans quickly rallied at these points, and 
took a terrific toll in British lives. Particularly was this true at 
three specially strong German positions. One called Port Arthur 
by the British, another at Pietre Mill and the third was the fortified 
bridge over Des Layes Creek. 

Because of the lack of telephone communication it was impos- 
sible to send reinforcements to the troops that had been held up by 
barbed wire and other emplacements and upon which German 
machine guns were pouring a steady stream of death. 

As the Twenty-third Brigade had been held up by unbroken 
barbed wire northwest of Neuve Chapelle, so the Seventh Division 
of the Fourth Corps was also checked in its action against the 
ridge of Aubers on the left of Neuve Chapelle. Under the plan 
of Sir Douglas Haig the Seventh Division was to have waited until I 
the Eighth Division had reached Neuve Chapelle, when it was to 
charge through Aubers. With the tragic mistake that cost the 
Twenty-third Brigade so dearly, the plan affecting the Seventh 
Division went awry. The German artillery, observing the con- 
centration of the Seventh Division opposite Aubers, opened a 
vigorous fire upon that front. During the afternoon General Haig 
ordered a charge upon the German positions. The advance was 
made in short rushes in the face of a fire that seemed to blaze from 
an inferno. Inch by inch the ground was drenched with British 
blood. At 5.30 in the afternoon the men dug themselves in under 
the relentless German fire. Further advance became impossible. 

The night was one of horror. Every minute the men were under 
heavy bombardment. At dawn on March 11th the dauntless 
British infantry rushed from the trenches in an effort to carry 
Aubers, but the enemy artillery now greatly reinforced made that ' 
task an impossible one. The trenches occupied by the British 
forces were consolidated and the salient made by the push was 
held by the British with bulldog tenacity. 

The number of men employed in the action on the British side 



NEUVE CHAPELLE AND WAR 275 

was forty-eight thousand. During the early surprise of the action 
the loss was shght. Had the wire in front of the Twenty-third 
Brigade been cut by the artillery assigned to such action, and had 
the telephone system not been destroyed the success of the thrust 
would have been complete. The delay of four and a half hours 
between the first and second phases of the attack caused virtually 
all the losses sustained by the attacking force. The total casualties 
were 12,811 men of the British forces. Of these 1,751 officers and 
privates were taken prisoners and 10,000 officers and men were 
killed and wounded. 

The action continued throughout Thursday, March 11th, with 
little change in the general situation. The British still held Neuve 
Chapelle and their intrenchments threatened Aubers. On Friday 
morning, March 12th, the Crown Prince of Bavaria made a desperate 
attempt under cover of a heavy fog to recapture the village. The 
effort was made in characteristic German dense formations. The 
Westphalian and Bavarian troops came out of Biez Wood in waves 
of gray-green, only to be blown to pieces by British guns already 
loaded and laid on the mark. Elsewhere the British waited until 
the Germans were scarcely more than fifty paces away when they 
opened with deadly rapid fire before which the German waves 
melted like snow before steam. It was such slaughter as the 
British had experienced when held up before Aubers. Slaughter 
that staggered Germany. 

So ended Neuve Chapelle, a battle in which the decision rested 
with the British, a victory for which a fearful price had been paid 
but out of which came a confidence that was to hearten the British 
nation and to put sinews of steel into the British army for the dread 
days to come. 

The story of Neuve Chapelle was repeated in large and in 
miniature many times during the deadlock of trench warfare on the 
western front until victory finally came to the Alhes. During 
those years the western battle front lay like a wounded snake 
across France and Belgium. It writhed and twisted, now this 
way, now that, as one side or the other gambled with men and 
shells and airplanes for some brief advantage. It bent back in a 
great bulge when von Hindenburg made his famous retreat in the 
winter of 1916 after the Allies had pressed heavily against the 
Teutonic front upon the ghasty field of the Somme. The record is 



276 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR 

one of great value to military strategists, to the layman it is only 
a succession of artillery barrages, of gas attacks, of aerial recon- 
naissances and combats. 

One day grew to be very much like another in that deadlock 
of pythons. A play for position here was met by a counter-thrust 
in another place. German inventions were outmatched and out- 
numbered by those coming from the Alhed side. 

Trench warfare became the daily hfe of the men. They learned 
to fight and live in the open. The power of human adaptation to 
abnormal conditions was never better exemplified than in those 
weary, dreary years on the western front. 

The fighting-Hnes consisted generally of one, two, or three 
Hues of shelter-trenches lying parallel, measuring twenty or twenty- 
five inches in width, and varying in length according to the number 
they hold; the trenches were joined together by zigzag approaches 
and by a Hne of reinforced trenches (armed with machine guns), 
which were almost completely proof against rifle, machine gun, or 
gun fire. The ordinary German trenches were almost invisible from 
350 yards away, a distance which permitted a very deadly fire. 
It is easy to realize that if the enemy occupied three successive 
lines and a line of reinforced intrenchments, the attacking line was 
Hkely, at the lowest estimate, to be decimated during an advance 
of 350 yards — by rifle fire at a range of 350 yards' distance, and by 
the extremely quick fire of the machine guns, each of which dehvered 
from 300 to 600 bullets a minute with absolute precision. In the 
field-trench, a soldier enjoyed far greater security than he would if 
merely prone behind his knapsack in an excavation barely fifteen 
inches deep. He had merely to stoop down a httle to disappear 
below the level of the ground and be immune from infantry fire; 
moreover, his machine guns fired without endangering him. In 
addition, this stooping position brought the man's knapsack on a 
level with his helmet, thus forming some protection against shrapnel 
and shell-splinters. 

At the back of the German trenches shelters were dug for 
non-commissioned ofiicers and for the commander of the unit. 

Ever since the outbreak of the war, the French troops in 
Lorraine, after severe experiences, realized rapidly the advantages 
of the German trenches, and began to study those they had taken 
gloriously. Officers, non-commissioned officers, and men of the 



go ^ 

"^ 3 

aq g t-. 
ED he) 

^> o 

S-^ > 

Saw 

^^. !^ 

CDCR m 

W 1— PI 

-^ ^ t?j 

£>T3 02 





d 

m ' 

a 
*3 



-^ 



o 


-a 




CO 


>> 


.^ 


W 


V, 




W?3 


H 




lii 




03 


<\i 


O 


^ 


54- 

o 




<U 


7J 


H 


^ 




c^ 


^ 


^ 






o 

S 
J3 


« 


(H 




w 


£ 




H 


-+^ 




is 


i 





o 



M 



NEUVE CHAPELLE AND WAR 279 

engineers were straightway detached in every unit to teach the 
infantry. how to construct similar shelters. The education was 
quick, and very soon they had completed the work necessary for 
the protection of all. The tools of the enemy ''casualties/' the 
spades and picks left behind in deserted villages, were all gladly 
piled on to the French soldiers' knapsacks, to be carried wilUngly 
by the very men who used to grumble at being loaded with even the 
smallest regulation tool As soon as night had set in on the occa- 
sion of a lull in the fighting, the digging of the trenches was begun. 
Sometimes, in the darkness, the men of each fighting nation — less 
than 500 yards away from their enemy — would hear the noise of 
the workers of the foe: the sounds of picks and axes; the officers' 
words of encouragement; and tacitly they would agree to an armis- 
tice during which to dig shelters from which, in the morning, they 
would dash out, to fight once more. 

Commodious, indeed, were some of the trench barracks. 
One French soldier wrote: 

"In really up-to-date intrenchments you may find kitchens, 
dining-rooms, bedrooms, and even stables. One regiment has 
first-class cow-sheds One day a whimsical 'piou-piou,' finding 
a cow wandering about in the danger zone, had the bright idea of 
finding shelter for it in the trenches The example was quickly 
followed, and at this moment the — th Infantry possess an under- 
ground farm, in which fat kine, well cared for, give such quantities 
of milk that regular distributions of butter are being made — and 
very good butter, too" 

But this is not all An officer writes home a tale of yet another 
one of the comforts of home added to the equipment of the trenches : 

"We are clean people here. Thanks to the ingenuity of , 

we are able to take a warm bath every day from ten to twelve. 
We call this teasing the 'bosches,' for this bathing-estabhshment of 
the latest type is fitted up — would you believe it? — ^in the trenches!" 



CHAPTER XVIII 

Steadfast South Afeica 

WHEN Germany struck at the heart of France through 
Belgium simultaneous action was undertaken by the 
German Command in Southwest Africa through 
propaganda and mobilization of the available German 
troops. Insidiously and by the use of money systematic propaganda 
was instituted to corrupt the Boers against their allegiance to the 
Union of South Africa. One great character stood hke a rock 
against all their efforts. It was the character of General Louis 
Botha, formerly arrayed in battle against the British during the 
Boer uprising. 

With characteristic determination he formulated plans for the 
invasion of German Southwest Africa without asking permission 
of the citizens of the South African Union or of the British Foreign 
Office. His vision comprehended an invasion that would have as 
its culmination a British-Boer colony where the German colony 
had been, and that from Cable Bay to the source of the Nile there 
would be one mighty union, with a great trunk railway feeding 
Egypt, the Soudan, Rhodesia, Uganda, and the Union of South 
Africa. An able lieutenant to Botha was General Smuts. He 
co-operated with his chief in a campaign of education. They 
pointed out the absolute necessity for deafness to the German 
tempters, and succeeded in obtaining full co-operation for the 
Botha plan of invasion from the British Imperial Government and 
the South African Union. Concerning this agreement General 
Botha said: 

''To forget their loyalty to the empire in this hour of trial 
would be scandalous and shameful, and would blacken South 
Africa in the eyes of the whole world. Of this South Africans were 
incapable. They had endiu-ed some of the greatest sacrifices that 
could be demanded of a people, but they had always kept before 
them ideals, founded on Christianity, and never in their darkest 
days had they sought to gain their ends by treasonable means. 

280 



STEADFAST SOUTH AFRICA 281 

The path of treason was an unknown path to Dutch and English 
alike. 

"Their duty and their conscience aUke bade them be faithful 
and true to the Imperial Government in all respects in this hour of 
darkness and trouble. That was the attitude of the Union Govern- 
ment; that was the attitude of the people of South Africa. The 
government had cabled to the Imperial Government at the out- 
break of war, offering to undertake the defense of South Africa, 
thereby releasing the Imperial troops for service elsewhere. This 
was accepted, and the Union Defense Force was mobilized." 

PreUminary to the invasion of German Southwest Africa, 
General Botha proclaimed martial law throughout the Union. 
The first act in consequence of this proclamation was the arrest 
of a number of conspirators who were planning sedition throughout 
the Union. The head of this conspiracy was Lieutenant-Colonel 
S. G. Maritz. General Beyers and General De Wet, both Boer 
oJSicers of high standing, co-operated with Maritz in an abortive 
rebelhon. The situation was most trying for the native Boers and, 
to their credit be it recorded, the great majority of them stood out 
strongly against the Germans. Vigorous action by Botha and 
Smuts smashed the rebeUion in the fall of 1914. A force acting 
under General Botha in person attacked the troops under General 
Beyers at Rustemburg on October 27th, and on the next day 
General Beyers sought refuge in flight. A smaller force acting 
under General Kemp was also routed on November 5th. 

General De Wet opened his campaign of rebellion on November 
7th in an action at Wimburg, where he defeated a smaller force of 
Loyalists under General Cronje. The decisive battle at Marquard 
occmred on November 12th, Botha commanding the Loyalists 
forces in person and De Wet the rebels. The victory of Botha in 
this fierce engagement was complete. De Wet was routed and was 
captured on December 1st with a rear-guard of fifty-two men. 
General Beyers was drowned on December 9th while attempting 
to escape from the Vail into the Transvaal. This virtually ended 
all opposition to General Botha. The invasion of German South- 
west Africa began on January 5, 1915, and was one uninterrupted 
chapter of successes. Through jungle and swamp, swept by 
torrential rains and encountering obstacles that would have dis- 
heartened any but the stoutest heart, the little force of invasion 



282 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR 

swept forward. Most of the engagements by the enemy were in 
the nature of guerrilla and rear-guard actions. The backbone of 
the German command was broken and the remaining forces 
capitulated in July, 1915. 

With the capitulation came the story of the German mis- 
management in Southwest Africa, and particularly their horrible 
treatment of the Hereros a^nd Hottentots in the country mis- 
governed by them. An official report fully authenticated was 
made and none of its essential details were refuted. 

The report told the story of how the German authorities 
exterminated the native Hereros. When Germany annexed the 
country in 1890 they were behoved to possess well over 150,000 head 
of cattle. After the rinderpest scourge of 1897 they still owned 
something hke 90,000 head. By 1902, less than ten years after 
the arrival of the first German settlers, the Hereros had only 
45,898 head of cattle, while the 1,051 German traders and farmers 
then in the country owned 44,487. The poUcy of robbing and 
killing the natives had by that time received the sanction of Berlin. 
By the end of 1905 the surviving Hereros had been reduced to 
pauperism and possessed nothing at all. In 1907 the Imperial 
German Government by ordinance prohibited the natives of 
Southwest Africa from possessing Hve stock. 

The wholesale theft of the natives' cattle, their only wealth, 
with the direct connivance and approval of the Berlin Government, 
was one of the primary causes of the Herero rebellion of 1904. The 
revolt was suppressed with characteristic German ruthlessness. 
But the Germans were not content with a mere suppression of the 
rising; they had decided upon the practical extinction of the 
whole tribe. For this purpose Leutwein, who was apparently 
regarded as too lenient, was superseded by von Trotha, noted for 
his merciless severity. He had played a notorious part in the 
Chinese Boxer rebelUon, and had just suppressed the Arab rising 
in German East Africa by the wholesale massacre of men, women, 
and children. As a preUminary von Trotha invited the Herero 
chiefs to come in and make peace, ''as the war was now over," 
and promptly shot them in cold blood. Then he issued his notorious 
"extermination order," in terms of which no Herero — man, woman, 
child, or babe — -was to receive mercy or quarter. "Kill every one 
of them," he said, "and take no prisoners." 



STEADFAST SOUTH AFRICA 28S 

The hanging of natives was a common occurrence. A Gennan 
officer had the right to order a native to be hanged. No trial or 
court was necessary. Many were hanged merely on suspicion. 

The Hereros were far more humane in the field than the 
Germans. They were once a fine race. Now there is only a 
miserable remnant left. 

This is amply proved by ofiicial German statistics. Out of 
between 80,000 and 90,000 souls, only about 15,000 starving and 
fugitive Hereros were alive at the end of 1905, when von Trotha 
relinquished his task. In 1911, after all rebellions had been 
suppressed and tranquillity restored, the government had a census 
taken. The figures, reproduced below, speak for themselves: 



Estimate Official Census 

1904 1911 



Decrease 



Hereros 80,000 15,130 64,870 

Hottentots 20,000 9,781 10,219 

Berg-Damaras 30,000 12,831 17,169 

130,000 37,742 92,258 

In other words, eighty^per cent of the Herero people dis- 
appeared, and more than half of the Hottentot and Berg-Damara 
races shared the same fate. Dr. Paul Rohrbach's dictum, "It is 
applicable to a nation in the same way as to the individual that 
the right of existence is primarily justified in the degree that such 
existence is useful for progress and general development," comes 
forcible to mind. These natives of Southwest Africa had been 
weighed in the German balance and had been found wanting. 

Germany lost more than a million square miles of territory 
in Africa as a direct consequence of General Botha^s bold action. 
These are divided in four great regions. Southwest Africa, Kamerun, 
Togo and East Africa.. Togoland as this region is popularly known 
extends from the north shore of the Gulf of Guinea into the interior 
and is bounded by French and British colonies. By a joint attack 
of French and British forces, beginning the second week in August, 
1914, the German power in this rich domain was completely broken, 
and the conquest of Togoland was complete on August 26, 1914. 
The military operation was of a desultory nature, and the losses 
neghgible in view of the area of 33,000 square miles of highly pro- 
ductive land passed from German control. 

The fighting in the great region of Kamerun was somewhat 



284 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR 

more stubborn than that in Togoland. The villages of Bonaberi 
and Duala were particularly well defended. The British and 
French fought through swamps and jungle under the handicap of 
terrific heat, and always with victory at the end of the engagement. 
The conquest of the Kamerun was complete by the end of June, 
1915. In addition to the operations by the British and French a 
combined Belgian and French force captured Molundu and 
Ngaundera in the German Congo. 

The raids by General Botha on German Southwest Africa, 
commenced on September 27, 1914. A series of briUiant strategic 
actions resulted in the conquest of a region once and a half the 
size of the German Empire at the time the Great War began. A 
British description of the operation states: 

The occupation of Windhoek was effected by General Botha's 
North Damaraland forces working along the railway from Swakop- 
mund. At the former place General Vanderventer joined up with 
General Botha's forces. The force from Swakopmund met with 
considerable opposition, first at Tretskopje, a small township in 
the great Namib Desert fifty miles to the northeast of Swakopmund, 
and secondly at Otjimbingwe, on the Swakop River, sixty miles 
northwest of Windhoek. Apart from these two determined stands, 
however, little other opposition was encountered, and Karibib was 
occupied on May 5th and Okahandja and Windhoek on May 12th. 
With the fall of the latter place, 3,000 Europeans and 12,000 natives 
became prisoners. 

The wireless station — one of Germany's most valuable high- 
power stations, which was able to communicate with one relay 
only, with Berlin — was captured almost intact, and much rolHng 
stock also fell into the hands of the Union forces. 

The advance from the south along the Luderitzbucht-Seeheim- 
Keetmanshoop Railway, approximately 500 miles in length, was 
made by two forces which joined hands at Keetmanshoop. The 
advance from Aus (captured on April 10th) was made by General 
Smuts's forces. Colonel (afterward General) Vanderventer, moving 
up from the direction of Warmbad and Kalkfontein, around the 
flanks of Karas Mountain, pushed on after reaching Keetmanshoop 
in the direction of Gibeon. Bethany had previously been occupied 
during the advance to Seeheim. At Kabus, twenty miles to the 
north of Keetmanshoop, and at Gibeon pitched battles were fought 



STEADFAST SOUTH AFRICA 285 

between General Vanderventer's forces and the enemy. No other 
opposition of importance was encountered, and the operations were 
brought to a successful conclusion. 

The stiffest fighting in all Africa came in German East Africa. 
It began in late September, 1914, and continued until mid-June, 
1915. The Germans, curiously enough, commenced the offensive 
here with an attack upon Monbasa, the terminus of the Uganda 
railway and the capital of British East Africa. The attack was 
planned as a joint naval and military operation, the German 
cruiser Koenigsburg being assigned to move into the harbor and 
bombard the town simultaneously with the assault by land. The 
plan went awry when the presence of British warships frightened 
off the Koenigsburg. The land attack was easily checked by a 
detachment of the King's African Rifles and native Arabian troops 
until the detachments of Indian Regulars arrived upon the scene. 
The enemy thereupon retreated to his original plans. 

British reprisals came early in November, when the towns of 
Tanga and Gassin were attacked by British troops. The troops 
selected for this adventure numbered 6,000 and carried only food, 
water, guns and munitions. No protection of any kind nor any 
other equipment was taken by the soldiers. Reinforcements to the 
German forces delayed the capture of Gassin until January. A 
garrison of three hundred men was left there and this in turn was 
besieged by three thousand Germans. After a stubborn defense 
the Germans recaptured the town. A union of two British forces 
was accompUshed early in June, 1915. One of these cut through 
German East Africa along the Kagera River and the other advanced 
on steamers from Kisumu. They met the enemy on June 22d and 
defeated it with heavy casualties. Later General Tighe, com- 
manding the combined British forces, was congratulated on the 
completeness of his victory on June 28th, by General Kitchener. 

The territory acquired by the British as a consequence of the 
invasion of Germany's African possessions, possesses formidable 
natural barriers, but once these are past the traveller finds lands of 
wonderful fertility and great natural resources. Approaching 
German Southwest Africa from the east, access is across the Kala- 
hari Desert. This in its trackless desolation, its frequent sand- 
storms and torrid heat through which only the hardiest and best 
provisioned caravans may penetrate is worse than the worst that 



286 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR 

Sahara can show. There is not a sign of life. Approached from 
the sea the principal port is Walfish Bay, a fair harbor that was 
improved by the British when they occupied it. Near Walfish 
some of the largest diamonds in the history of the world have been 
found and gold fields of considerable richness have been worked. 
The climate of German Southwest Africa, after the torrential 
storms of the seacoast and the terrific heat of the desert have been 
passed, is one of the most salubrious in the world. It is unique 
among African regions in the opportunities it affords for coloniza- 
tion by white men. Great Britain possessed large holdings of this 
land before Germany came into possession, but abandoned them 
under the belief that the region was comparatively worthless. 
There was no misapprehension on this score when all of the lands 
came into the possession of England as the result of the war. 




CHAPTER XIX 

Italy Declares War on Austria 

I OR many years before the great war began the great powers 
of Europe were divided into two great alliances, the Triple 
Entente, composed of Russia, France and England, and 
the Triple Alliance, composed of Germany, Austria and 
Italy. When the war began Italy refused to join with Germany 
and Austria. Why? The answer to this question throws a vivid 
light on the origin of the war. 

Italy was a member of the Triple AUiance; she knew the facts, 
not only what was given to the pubhc, but the inside facts. Accord- 
ing to the terms of the aUiance each member was bound to stand 
by each other only in case of attack. Italy refused to join with 
Austria and Germany because they were the aggressors. The 
constant assertions of the German statesmen, and of the Kaiser 
himself, that war had been forced upon them were declared untrue 
by their associate Italy in the very beginning, and the verdict of 
Italy was the verdict of the world. Not much was said in the 
beginning about Italy's abstention from war. The Germans, indeed, 
sneered a little and hinted that some day Italy would be made to 
regret her course, but now that the Teuton snake is scotched the 
importance of Italy's action has been perceived and appraised at 
its true value. 

The Germans from the very beginning understood the real 
danger that might' come to the Central Powers through Italian 
action. Every effort was made by the foreign office to keep her 
neutral. First threats were used, later promises were held out of 
addition to ItaUan territory if she would send her troops to Ger- 
many's assistance. When this failed the most strenuous efforts 
were made to keep Italy neutral, and a former German premier, 
Prince von Btilow, was sent to Italy for this purpose. Socialist 
leaders, too, were sent from Germany to urge the Italian Socialists 
to insist upon neutrality. 

In July, 1914, the Italian Government was not taken by 

287 



288 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR 

surprise. They had observed the increase year by year of the 
German army and of the German fleet. At the end of the Balkan 
wars they had been asked whether they would agree to an Austrian 
attack upon Serbia. They had consequently long been deliberating 
as to what their course should be in case of war, and they had made 
up their minds that under no circumstances would they aid Ger- 
many against England. 

Quite independently of her long-standing friendship with 
England it would be suicide to Italy in her geographical position to 
enter into a war which should permit her coast to be attacked by 
the English and French navies, and her participation in the Triple 
Alliance always carried the proviso that it did not bind her to 
fight England. This was well known in the German foreign office, 
and, indeed, in France where the writers upon war were reckoning 
confidently on the withdrawing of Italy from the Triple AlUance, 
and planning to use the entire forces of France against Germany. 

A better understanding of the ItaUan position will result from 
a consideration of the origin of the Triple Alliance. 

After the war of 1870, Bismarck, perceiving the quick recovery 
of France, considered the advisibility of attacking her again, 
and, to use his own words, '^bleeding her white." He found, 
however, that if this were attempted France would be joined by 
Russia and England and he gave up this plan. In order, however, 
to render France powerless he planned an alliance which should be 
able to control Europe. A league between Germany, Austria and 
Russia was his desire, and for some time every opportunity was 
taken to develop friendship with the Czar. Russia, however, 
remained cool. Her Pan-Slavonic sympathies were opposed to 
the interests of Germany. Bismarck, therefore, determined, 
without losing the friendship of Russia, to persuade Italy to join in 
the continental combination. Italy, at the time, was the least 
formidable of the six great powers, but Bismarck foresaw that she 
could be made good use of in such a combination. 

At that time Italy, just after the completion of Italian unity, 
found herself in great perplexity. Her treatment of the Pope had 
brought about the hostiUty of Roman Catholics throughout the 
world. She feared both France and Austria, who were strong 
Catholic countries, and hardly knew where to look for friends. 
The great Italian leader at the time was Francesco Crispi, who, 



ITALY DECLARES WAR ON AUSTRIA 289 

beginning as a Radical and a conspirator, had become a constitu- 
tional statesman. Bismarck professed the greatest friendship for 
Crispi, and gave Crispi to understand that he approved of Italy's 
aspirations on the Adriatic and in Tunis. 

The next year, however, at the BerUn Congress, Italy's interests 
were ignored, and finally, in 1882, France seized Tunis, to the great 
indignation of the Italians. It has been shown in more recent 
times that the French seizure of Tunis was directly due to Bismarck's 
instigation. 

The Itahans having been roused to wrath, Bismarck proceeded 
to offer them a place in the councils of the Triple AUiance. It was 
an easy argument that such an alliance would protect them against 
France, and no doubt it was promised that it would free them from 
the danger of attack by Austria. England, at the time, was 
isolated, and Italy continued on the best understanding with her. 

The immediate result of the alliance was a growth of Italian 
hostility toward France, which led, in 1889, to a tariff war on France. 
Meanwhile German commercial and financial enterprises were 
pushed throughout the Italian peninsula. What did Italy gain 
by this? Her commerce was weakened, and Austria permitted 
herself every possible unfriendly act except open war. 

As time went on Germany and Austria became more and more 
arrogant. Italy's ambitions on the Balkan peninsula were abso- 
lutely ignored. In 1908 Austria appropriated Bosnia and 
Herzegovina, another blow to Italy. By this time Italy understood 
the situation well, and that same year, seeing no future for herself 
in Europe, she swooped down on TripoU. In doing this she fore- 
stalled Germany herself, for Germany had determined to seize 

Tripoh. 

Both Germany and Austria were opposed to this action of 
Italy, but Italy's eyes were now open. Thirty years of political 
alliance had created no sympathy among the Italians for the 
Germans. Moreover, it was not entirely a question of policy. 
The lordly arrogance of the Prussians caused sharp antagonism. 
The ItaUans were lovers of liberty; the Germans pledged toward 
autocracy. They found greater sympathy in England and in 
France. 

*' I am a son of Hberty," said Cavour, "to her I owe all that 
I am." That, too, is Italy's motto. When the war broke out 



290 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR 

popular sympathy in Italy was therefore strongly in favor of the 
Allies. The party in power, the Liberals, adopted the policy of 
neutrahty for the time being, but thousands of ItaHans volunteered 
for the French and British service, and the anti-German feeling 
grew greater as time went on. 

Finally, on the 23d of May, 1915, the Itahan Government with- 
drew its ambassador to Austria and declared war. A complete 
statement of the negotiations between Italy and Austria-Hungary, 
which led to this declaration, was delivered to the Government of 
the United States by the Italian Ambassador on May 25th. This 
statement, of which the following is an extract, lucidly pre- 
sented the Italian position: 

"The Triple Alhance was essentially defensive, and designed 
solely to preserve the status quo, or in other words equilibrium, 
in Europe. That these were its only objects and purposes is 
estabUshed by the letter and spirit of the treaty, as well as by the 
intentions clearly described and set forth in official acts of the 
ministers who created the alUance and confirmed and renewed 
it in the interests of peace, which always has inspired ItaUan 
poHcy. The treaty, as long as its intents and purposes had been 
loyally interpreted and regarded, and as long as it had not been used 
as a pretext for aggression against others, greatly contributed to 
the elimination and settlement of causes of conflict, and for many 
years assured to Europe the inestimable benefits of peace. But 
Austria-Hungary severed the treaty by her own hands. She 
rejected the response of Serbia which gave to her all the satisfaction 
she could legitimately claim. She refused to Hsten to the con- 
cihatory proposals presented by Italy in conjunction with other 
powers in the effort to spare Europe from a vast conflict, certain 
to drench the Continent with blood and to reduce it to ruin beyond 
the conception of human imagination, and finally she provoked 
that conflict. 

"Article first of the treaty embodied the usual and necessary 
obhgation of such pacts — the pledge to exchange views upon any 
fact and economic questions of a general nature that might arise 
pursuant to its terms. None of the contracting parties had the 
right to undertake without a previous agreement any step the 
consequence of which might impose a duty upon the other 
signatories arising under the alliance, or which would in any way 



ITALY DECLARES WAR ON AUSTRIA 291 

whatsoever encroach upon their vital interests. This article was 
violated by Austria-Hungary, when she sent to Serbia her note 
dated July 23, 1914, an action taken without the previous assent 
of Italy. Thus, Austria-Hungary violated beyond doubt one of 
the fundamental provisions of the treaty. The obligation of 
Austria-Hungary to come to a previous understanding with Italy 
was the greater because her obstinate policy against Serbia gave 
rise to a situation which directly tended toward the provocation 
of a European war. 

*'As far back as the beginning of July, 1914, the Italian Gov- 
ernment, preoccupied by the prevaihng feeling in Vienna, caused 
to be laid before the Austro-Hungarian Government a number of 
suggestions advising moderation, and warning it of the impending 
danger of a European outbreak. The course adopted by Austria- 
Hungary against Serbia constituted, moreover, a direct encroach- 
ment upon the general interests of Italy both poUtical and eco- 
nomical in the Balkan peninsula. Austria-Hungary could not 
for a moment imagine that Italy could remain indifferent while 
Serbian independence was being trodden upon. On a number of 
occasions theretofore, Italy gave Austria to understand, in friendly 
but clear terms, that the independence of Serbia was considered by 
Italy as essential to the Balkan equihbrium. Austria-Hungary 
was further advised that Italy could never permit that equilibrium 
to be disturbed through a prejudice. This warning had been con- 
veyed not only by her diplomats in private conversations with 
responsible Austro-Hungarian officials, but was proclaimed pub- 
licly by Itahan statesmen on the floors of Parhament. 

"Therefore, when Austria-Hungary ignored the usual prac- 
tices and menaced Serbia by sending her an ultimatum, without in 
any way notifying the ItaUan Government of what she proposed 
to do, indeed leaving that government to learn of her action 
through the press, rather than through the usual channels of 
diplomacy, when Austria-Hungary took this unprecedented comrse 
she not only severed her aUiauce with Italy but committed an act 
inimical to Italy's interests. . . . 

"After the European war broke out Italy sought to come to 
an understanding with Austria-Hungary with a view to a settle- 
ment satisfactory to both parties which might avert existing and 
future trouble. Her efforts were in vain, notwithstanding the 



292 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR 

efforts of Germany, which for months endeavored to induce Austria- 
Hungary to comply with Italy's suggestion thereby recognizing the 
propriety and legitimacy of the Italian attitude. Therefore Italy 
found herself compelled by the force of events to seek other 
solutions. vii>^v,- 

"Inasmuch as the treaty of alliance with Austria-Hungary 
had ceased virtually to exist and served only to prolong a state of 
continual friction and mutual suspicion, the Italian Ambas- 
sador at Vienna was instructed to declare to the Austro- 
Hungarian Government that the ItaUan Government considered 
itself free from the ties arising out of the treaty of the Triple 
Alliance in so far as Austria-Hungary was concerned. This com- 
munication was delivered in Vienna on May 4th. 

''Subsequently to this declaration, and after we had been 
obliged to take steps for the protection of our interests, the Austro- 
Hungarian Government submitted new concessions, which, how- 
ever, were deemed insufficient and by no means met our minimum 
demands. These offers could not be considered under the cir- 
cumstances. The Italian Government taking into consideration 
what has been stated above, and supported by the vote of ParUa- 
ment and the solemn manifestation of the country came to the 
decision that any further delay would be inadvisable. Therefore, 
on May 23d, it was declared, in the name of the King, to the 
Austro-Hungarian Ambassador at Rome that, beginning the fol- 
lowing day. May 24th, it would consider itself in a state of war 
with Austria-Hungary." 

It was a closely reasoned argument that the ItaUan statesmen 
presented, but there was something more than reasoned argument 
in Italy's course. She had been waiting for years for the oppor- 
tunity to bring under her flag the men of her own race still held in 
subjection by hated Austria. Now was the time or never. Her 
people had become roused. Mobs filled the streets. Great orators, 
even the great poet, D'Annunzio, proclaimed a holy war. The 
sinking of the Lusitania poured oil on the flames, and the treat- 
ment of Belgium and eastern France added to the fury. 

Italian statesmen, even if they had so desired, could not have 
withstood the pressure. It was a crusade for Italia Irredenta, for 
civilization, for humanity. The country had been flooded by 
representatives of German propaganda, papers had been hired 



ITALY DECLARES WAR ON AUSTRIA 293 

and, by all report, money in large amounts distributed. But 
every German effort was swept away in the flood of feeling. It 
was the people's war. 

Amid tremendous enthusiasm the Chamber of Deputies 
adopted by vote of 407 to 74 the bill conferring upon the govern- 
ment full power to make war. All members of the Cabinet main- 
tained absolute silence regarding what step should follow the 
action of the chamber. When the chamber reassembled on May 
20th, after its long recess, there were present 482 Deputies out of 
600, the absentees remaining away on account of illness. The 
Deputies especially applauded were those who wore miUtary uni- 
forms and who had asked permission for leave from their military 
duties to be present at the sitting. All the tribunes were filled to 
overflowing. No representatives of Germany, Austria or Turkey 
were to be seen in the diplomatic tribune. The first envoy to 
arrive was Thomas Nelson Page, the American Ambassador, who 
was accompanied by his staff. M. Barrere, Sir J. BenneU Rodd, 
and Michel de Giers, the French, British and Russian Ambassadors, 
respectively, appeared a few minutes later and all were greeted 
with applause, which was shared by the Belgian, Greek and Rou- 
manian ministers. George B. McClellan, one-time mayor of 
New York, occupied a seat in the President's tribune. 

A few minutes before the session began the poet, Gabrielle 
D'Annunzio, one of the strongest advocates of war, appeared in the 
rear of the pubhc tribune which was so crowded that it seemed 
impossible to squeeze in anybody else. But the moment the people 
saw him they lifted him shoulder high and passed him over their 
heads to the first row. 

The entire chamber, and all those occupying the other trib- 
unes, rose and applauded for five minutes, crying ''Viva 
D'Annunzio!" Later thousands sent him their cards and in return 
received his autograph bearing the date of this eventful day. 
Senor Marcora, President of the Chamber, took his place at 
three o'clock. All the members of the House, and everybody in 
the galleries, stood up to acclaim the old follower of Garibaldi. 
Premier Salandra, followed by all the members of the Cabinet, 
entered shortly afterward. It was a solemn moment. Then a 
delirium of cries broke out. 

''Viva Salandra!" roared the Deputies, and the cheering 



294 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR 

lasted for a long time. After the formalities of the opening, Premier 
Salandra, deeply moved by the demonstration, arose and said : 

''Gentlemen, I have the honor to present to you a bill to meet 
the eventual expenditures of a national war." 

The announcement was greeted by further prolonged applause. 
The Premier's speech was continually interrupted by enthusiasm, 
and at times he could hardly continue on account of the wild 
cheering. The climax was reached when he made a reference to 
the army and navy. Then the cries seemed interminable, and 
those on the floor of the House and in the galleries turned to the 
military tribune from which the officers answered by waving their 
hands and handkerchiefs. 

At the end of the Premier's speech there were deafening 
vivas for the King, war and Italy. Thirty-four Socialists refused to 
join the cheers, even in the cry ''Viva Italia!" and they were 
hooted and hissed. 

The action of the ItaHan Government created intense feeling. 
A newspaper man in Vienna, describing the Austrian indignation, 
said: 

"The exasperation and contempt which Italy's treacherous 
surprise attack and her hypocritical justification aroused here, are 
quite indescribable. Neither Serbia nor Russia, despite a long 
and costly war, is hated. Italy, however, or rather those Italian 
would-be politicians and business men v/ho offer violence to the 
majority of peaceful ItaHan people, are unutterably hated." On 
the other hand German papers spoke with much more modera- 
tion and recognized that Italy was acting in an entirely natural 
manner. 

On the very day on which war was declared active operations 
were begun. Both sides had been making elaborate preparations. 
Austria had prepared herself by building strong fortifications in 
which were employed the latest technical improvements in defensive 
warfare. Upon the Carso and around Gorizia the Austrians had 
placed innumerable batteries of powerful guns mounted on rails 
and protected by armor plates. They also had a great number of 
medium and smaller guns. A net of trenches had been excavated 
and constructed in cement all along the edge of the hills which 
dominated the course of the Isonzo River. 

These trenches, occupjdng a position nearly impregnable 



ITALY DECLARES WAR ON AUSTRIA 297 

because so mountainous, were defended by every modern device. 
They were protected with numerous machine guns, surrounded 
by wire entanglements through which ran a strong electric current. 
These lines of trenches followed without interruption from the 
banks of the Isonzo to the summit of the mountains which dom- 
inate it; they formed a kind of formidable staircase which had 
to be conquered step by step with enormous sacrifice. 

During this same period General Cadorna, then head of the 
Italian army, had been bringing that army up to date, working 
for high efficiency and piling up munitions. 

The Army of Italy was a formidable one. Every man in Italy 
is liable to mihtary service for a period of nineteen years from the 
age of twenty to thirty-nine. 

At the time of the war the approximate war strength of the 
army was as follows: Officers, 41,692; active army with the colors, 
289,910; reserve, 638,979; mobile militia, 299,956; territorial 
militia, 1,889,659; total strength, 3,159,836. The above number of 
total men available included upward of 1,200,000 fully trained 
soldiers, with perhaps another 800,000 partially trained men, the 
remaining milhon being completely untrained men. This army 
was splendidly armed, its officers well educated, and the men 
brave and disciplined. 

The Itahan plan of campaign apparently consisted first, in 
neutrafizing the Trentino by capturing or covering the defenses 
and cutting the two fines of communication with Austria proper, 
the railway which ran south from Insbruck, and that which ran 
southwest from Vienna and joined the former at Fransensfets; 
and second, in a movement in force on the eastern frontier, with 
Trieste captured or covered on the right flank in the direction of 
the Austrian fortress at Klagenfurt and Vienna. 

The first blow was struck by Austria on the day that war 
was declared. On that day bombs were dropped on Venice, and 
five other Adriatic ports were shelled from air, and some from sea. 
The Itafian armies invaded Austria on the east with great rapidity, 
and by May 27th a part of the Itafian forces had moved across the 
Isonzo River to Monfalcone, sixteen miles northwest of Trieste. 
Another force penetrated further to the north in the Crown land 
of Gorizia, and Gradisca. Reports from Italy were that encounters 
with the enemy had thus far been merely outpost skirmishes, but 



298 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR 

had allowed Italy to occupy advantageous positions on Austrian 
territory. By June 1st, the Italians had occupied the greater part 
of the west bank of the Isonzo, with little opposition. The left 
wing was beyond the Isonzo, at Caporetto, fighting among the 
boulders of Monte Nero, where the Austrian artillery had strong 
positions. Monfalcone was kept under constant bombardment. 

A general Italian advance took place on June 7th across the 
Isonzo River from Caporetto to the sea, a distance of about forty 
miles. Monfalcone was taken by the Italians on June the 10th, 
the first serious blow against Trieste, as Monfalcone was a railway 
junction, and its electrical works operated the light and power of 
Trieste. 

Next day the center made a great blow against Gradisca and 
Sagrado, but the river line proved too strong. The only success 
was won that night at Plava, north of Borrigia, which was carried 
by a surprise attack. The Isonzo was in flood, and presented a 
serious obstacle to the onrush of the ItaUans. By June 14th the 
ItaUan eastern army had pushed forward along the gulf of Trieste 
toward the town of Nebrosina, nine miles from Trieste. 

Meanwhile, the Austrian armies were being constantly 
strengthened. The initial weakness of the Austrian defensive was 
due to the fact that the armies normally assigned to the invaded 
region had been sent to defend the Austrian Hne in Galicia against 
the Russians. When Italy began her invasion the defenses of the 
country were chiefly in the hands of hastily mobihzed youths 
below the military age of nineteen, and men above the mihtary age 
of forty-two. From now on Austrian troops began to arrive from 
the Galician front, some of these representing the finest fighting 
material in the Austrian ranks. The chance of an easy victory 
was shpping from Italy's hands. The Italian advance was 
checked. 

On the 15th of June the Italians carried an important position 
on Monte Nero, chmbing the rocks by night and attacking by 
dawn. But this conquest did not help much. No guns of great 
caliber could be carried on the mountain, and Tolmino, which had 
been heavily fortified, and contained a garrison of some thirty 
thousand men, was entirely safe. The following week there were 
repeated counter-attacks at Plava and on Monte Nero, but the 
Italians held what they had won. 



ITALY DECLARES WAR ON AUSTRIA 299 




AREA OF GENERAL CADORNA'S SUCCESSFUL OPERATIONS AGAINST GORIZIA 

The Isonzo valley forms the eastern line for the defense of Italy and its possession 
was essential to the realization of Italian ideals. Gorizia, its main strategic position, 
first fell to the Italians August 9, 1916. & f > 



300 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR 

The position was now that Cadorna's left wing was in a strong 
position, but could not do much against Tolmino. His center was 
facing the great camp of Gorizia, while his right was on the edge of 
the Carso, and had advanced as far as Dueno, on the Monfalcone- 
Trieste Railroad. The army was in position to make an attack 
upon Gorizia. On the 2d of July an attack on a broad front was 
aimed directly at Gorizia. The left was to swing around against 
the defenses of Gorizia to the north ; the center was directed against 
the Gorizia bridge-head, and the right was to swing around to 
the northeast through the Doberdo plateau. If it succeeded the 
Trieste railway would be cut and Gorizia must fall. 

Long and confused fighting followed. The center and the 
right of the Italian army slowly advanced their line, taking over 
one thousand prisoners. For days there was continuous bombard- 
ment and counter-bombardment. The fighting on the left was 
terrific. In the neighborhood of Plava the Italian forces found 
themselves opposed by Hungarian troops, unaccustomed to moun- 
tain warfare, who at first fell back. Austrian reserves came to 
their aid, and flung back three times the ItaHan charge. 

Three new Italian brigades were brought up, and King Victor 
Emanuel himself came to encourage his troops. The final assault 
carried the heights. On the 22d of July the Italian right cap- 
tured the crest of San Michele, which dominates the Doberdo 
plateau. 

Meanwhile the Austrian armies were being heavily reinforced, 
and General Cadorna found himself unable to make progress. 
Much ground had been won but Gorizia was still unredeemed. 
Many important vantage points were in Italian hands, but it was 
difficult to advance. The result of the three months' campaign 
w^as a stalemate. In the high mountains to the north Italy's cam- 
paign was a war of defense. To undertake her offensive on the Isonzo 
it was necessary that she guard her flanks and rear. The Tyrolese 
battle-ground contained three distinct points where it was necessary 
to operate; the Trentino Salient, the passes of the Dolomites, and 
the passes of the Carnic Alps. 

Early in June Italy had won control of the ridges of the moun- 
tains in the two latter points, but the problem in the Trentino was 
more difficult. It was necessary, because of the converging valleys, 
to push her front well inland. On the Carnic Alps the fighting 



ITALY DECLARES WAR ON AUSTRIA 301 

consisted of unimportant skirmishes. The main struggle centered 
around the pass of Monte Croce Carnico. 

In two weeks the Alpini had seized dominating positions to 
the west of the pass, but the Austrians clung 'to the farther slopes. 
A great deal of picturesque fighting went on, but not much progress 
was made. Further west in the Dolomite region there was more 
fighting. On the 30th of May Cartina had been captured, and the 
ItaUans moved north toward the Pusterthal Railway. Progress 
was slow, as the main routes to the railway were difficult. 

By the middle of August they were only a few miles from the 
railway, but all the routes led through defiles, and the neighboring 
heights were in the possession of the Austrians. To capture these 
heights was a most difficult feat, which the Italians performed in 
the most brilHant way; but even after they had passed these defiles 
success was not yet won. Each Itafian column was in its 
own groove, with no lateral communication. The Austrians could 
mass themselves where they pleased. As a result the Italian 
forces were compelled to halt. 

In the Trentino campaign the Itahans soon captured the 
passes, and moved against Trente and Roverito. These towns 
were heavily fortified, as were their surrounding heights. The 
campaign became a series of small fights on mountain peaks and 
mountain ridges. Only small bodies of troops could maneuver, 
and the raising of guns up steep precipices was extremely difficult. 
The ItaUans slowly succeeded in gaining ground, and estabhshed a 
chain of posts around the heights so that often one would see guns 
and barbed wire intrenchments at a height of more than ten 
thousand feet among the crevasses of the glaciers. The Alpini 
performed wonderful feats of physical endurance, but the plains 
of Lombardy were still safe. 



CHAPTER XX 
Glorious Gallipoli 

IF EVER the true mettle and temper of a people were tried 
and exemplified in the crucible of battle, that battle was 
the naval and land engagement embracing GallipoU and the 

Dardanelles, and the people so tested the British race. 
Separated in point of time but united in its general plan, the engage- 
ments present a picture of heroism founded upon strategic mis- 
takes; of such perseverance and dogged determination against 
overwhelming natural and artificial odds as even the pages of 
supreme British bravery cannot parallel. The immortal charge of 
the Light Brigade was of a piece with Galhpoli, but it was merely a 
battle fragment and its glorious record was written in blood within 
the scope of a comparatively few inspired minutes. In the mine- 
strewn Dardanelles and upon the sun-baked, blood-drenched 
rocky slopes of Galhpoli, death always partnered every sailor and 
soldier. As at Balaklava, virtually everyone knew that some one 
had blundered, but the army and the navy as one man fought to the 
bitter end to make the best of a bad bargain, to tear triumph out 
of impossibilities. 

France co-operated with the British in the naval engagement, 
but the greater sacrifice, the supreme charnel house of the war, 
the British race reserved for itseK. There, the yeomanry of Eng- 
land, the unsung county regiments whose sacrifices and achieve- 
ments have been neglected in England's generous desire to honor 
the men from "down under," the AustraKans and New Zealanders 
grouped under the imperishable title of the Anzacs — there the 
Scotch, Welsh and Irish knit in one devoted British army with the 
great fighters from the self-governing colonies waged a battle so 
hopeless and so gallant that the word GalhpoU shall always remind 
the world how man may triumph over the fear of death; how, with 
nothing but defeat and disaster before them, men may go to their 
deaths as unconcernedly as in other days they go to their nightly 
sleep. 

302 



GLORIOUS GALLIPOLI 303 

On November 5, 1914, Great Britain declared war upon 
Turkey. Hostilities, however, had preceded the declaration. On 
November 3d the combined French and British squadrons had 
bombarded the entrance forts. This was merely intended to draw 
the fire of the forts and make an estimate of their power. From 
that time on a blockade was maintained, and on the 13th of Decem- 
ber a submarine, commanded by Lieutenant Holbrook, entered 
the straits and torpedoed the Turkish warship Messoudieh, which 
was guarding the mine fields. 

By the end of January the blockading fleet, through constant 
reinforcement, had become very strong, and had seized the Island 
of Tenedos and taken possession of Lemnos, which nominally 
belonged to Greece, as bases for naval operations. On the 19th of 
February began the great attack upon the forts at the entrance to 
the Dardanelles, which attracted the attention of the world for 
nearly a year. 

The expedition against the Dardanelles had been considered 
with the greatest care, and approved by the naval authorities. 
That their judgment was correct, however, is another question. 
The history of naval warfare seems to make very plain that a ship, 
however powerful, is at a tremendous disadvantage when attacking 
forts on land. The badly served cannon of Alexandria fell, indeed, 
before a British fleet, but GallipoU had been fortified by German 
engineers, and its guns were the Krupp cannon. The British 
fleet found itself opposed by unsurmountable obstacles. Looking 
backward it seems possible, that if at the very start Lord Kitchener 
had permitted a detachment of troops to accompany the fleet, 
success might have been attained, but without the army the navy 
was powerless. 

The Peninsula of GalhpoU is a tongue of land about fifty miles 
long, varying in width from twelve to two or three miles. It is a 
mass of rocky hills so steep that in many places it is a matter of 
difficulty to reach their tops. On it are a few villages, but there 
are no decent roads and httle cultivated land. On the southern 
shore of the Dardanelles conditions are nearly the same. Here, 
the entrance is a flat and marshy plain, but east of this plain are 
hills three thousand feet high. The high ground overhangs the 
sea passage on both sides and, with the exception of narrow bits of 
beach at their base, presents almost no opportunity for landing. 



304 



HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR 



English Miles 




MAP OF THE GALLIPOLI PENINSULA 
Showing the various landing places, with inset of the Sari-Bair Region. 



GLORIOUS GALLIPOLI 305 

A strong current continually sifts down the straits from the Sea 
of Marmora. 

Forts are placed at the entrance on both the north and south 
side, but they were not heavily armed and were merely outposts. 
Fourteen miles from the mouth the straits become quite narrow, 
making a sharp turn directly north and then resuming their original 
direction. The channel thus makes a sharp double bend. At the 
entrance to the strait, known as the Narrows, were powerful fort- 
resses, and the slopes were studded with batteries. Along both 
sides of the channel the low ground was hned with batteries. 
It was possible to attack the forts at fairly long range, but there 
was no room to bring any large number of ships into action at 
the same time. 

At the time of the GalUpoli adventure there were probably 
nearly half a milHon of men available for a defense of the straits, 
men well armed and well trained under German leadership. The 
first step was comparatively easy. The operations against the 
other forts began at 8 a. m. on Friday, the 19th of February. The 
ships engaged were the Inflexible, the Agamemnon, the Cornwallis, 
the Vengeance and the Triumph from the British fleet, and the 
Bouvet, Suffren, and the Gaulois from the French, all under the 
command of Vice-Admiral Sackville Garden. The French squadron 
was under Rear-Admiral Gueprette. A flotiUa of destroyers accom- 
panied the fleet, and airplanes were sent up to guide the fire of the 
battleships. 

At first the fleet was arranged in a semicircle some miles out 
to sea from the entrance to the strait. It afforded an inspiring 
spectacle as the ships came along and took up position, and the 
picture became most awe-inspiring when the guns began to boom. 
The bombardment at first was slow. Shells from the various 
ships screaming through the air at the rate of about one every 
two minutes. 

The Turkish batteries, however, were not to be drawn, and, 
seeing this, the British Admiral sent one British ship and one 
French ship close in shore toward the Sedd-el-Bahr forts. As they 
went in they sped right under the guns of the shore batteries, which 
could no longer resist the temptation to see what they could do. 
Puffs of white smoke dotted the landscape on the far shore, and 
dull booms echoed over the placid water. Around the ships 



306 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR 

fountains of water sprang up into the air. The enemy had been 
drawn, but his marksmanship was obviously very bad. Not a 
single shot directed against the ships went within a hundred yards 
of either. 

At sundown, on account of the faihng light, Admiral Garden 
withdrew the fleet. On account of the bad weather the attack 
was not renewed until February 25th. It appeared that the outer 
forts had not been seriously damaged on the 19th, and that what 
injury had been done had been repaired. In an hour and a half 
the Cape Helles fort was silenced. The Agamemnon was hit by a 
shell fired at a range of six miles, which killed tlu-ee men and wounded 
five. Early in the afternoon Sedd-el-Bahr was attacked at close 
range, but not silenced till after 5 p. m. At this time British trawlers 
began sweeping the entrance for mines, and during the next day 
the mine field was cleared for a distance of four miles up the straits. 

As soon as this clearance was made the Albion, Vengeance and 
Majestic steamed into the strait and attacked Fort Dardanos, a 
fortification some distance below the Narrows. The Turks replied 
vigorously, not only from Dardanos but from batteries scattered 
along the shore. Believing that the Turks had abandoned the 
forts at the entrance, landing parties of marines were sent to shore. 
In a short time, however, they met a detachment of the enemy and 
were compelled to retreat to their boats. The outer forts, however, 
were destroyed, and their destruction was extremely encouraging 
to the Allies. 

For a time a series of minor operations was canied on, meeting 
with much success. Besides attacks on forts inside of the strait, 
Smyrna was bombarded on March the 5th, and on March the 6th 
the Queen Elizabeth, the Agamemnon and the Ocean bombarded 
the forts at Chanak on the Asiatic side of the Narrows, from a 
position in the Gulf of Saros on the outer side of the Gallipoli 
Peninsula. To all of these attacks the Turks replied vigorously 
and the attacking ships were repeatedly struck, but with no loss of 
life. On the 7th of March Fort Dardanos was silenced, and Fort 
Ghanak ceased firing, but, as it turned out, only temporarily. 

Preparations were now being made for a serious effort against 
the Narrows. The date of the attack was fixed for March 17th, 
weather permitting. On the 16th Admiral Garden was stricken 
down with illness and was invalided by medical authority. 



GLORIOUS GALLIPOLI 307 

Admiral de Roebeck, second in command, who had been very active 
in the operations, was appointed to succeed him. Admiral de Roe- 
beck was in cordial sympathy with the purposes of the expedition 
and determined to attack on the 18th of March. At a quarter to 
eleven that morning, the Queen Ehzabeth, Inflexible, Agamemnon, 
Lord Nelson, the Triumph and Prince George steamed up the 
straits towards the Narrows, and bombarded the forts of Chanak. 
iVt 12.22 the French squadron, consisting of the Suffren, Gaulcis, 
Charlemagne, and Bouvet, advanced up the Dardanelles to aid their 
English associates. 

Under the combined fire of the two squadi'ons the Turkish 
forts, which at first replied strongly, were finally silenced. All of 
the ships, however, were hit several times during this part of the 
action. A third squadron, includmg the Vengeance, Irresistible, 
Albion, Ocean, Swiftshore and Majestic, then advanced to relieve 
the six old battleships inside the strait. 

As the French squadron, which had engaged the forts in a 
most brilhant fashion, was passing out the Bouvet was blown up by 
a drifting mine and sank in less than three minutes, carrying with 
her most of her crew. At 2.36 p. M. the relief battleships renewed 
the attack on the forts, w^hich again opened fire. The Turks were 
now sending mines dov/n v/ith the cmrent. At 4.09 the Irresistible 
quitted the fine, listing heavily, and at 5.50 she sank, having prob- 
ably struck a drifting mine. At 6.05 the Ocean, also having struck 
a mine, sank in deep water. Practically the whole of the crews were 
removed safely. The Gaulois was damaged by gunfire; the 
Inflexible had her forward control position hit by a heavy shell, 
which killed and wounded the majority of the men and officers at 
that station and set her on fire. At sunset the forts were still in 
action, and during the twilight the Allied fleet slipped out of the 
Dardanelles. 

Meantime, an expeditionary force was being gathered. The 
largest portion of this force came from Great Britain, but France 
also provided a considerable number from her marines and from 
her Colonial army. Both nations avoided, as far as possible, draw- 
ing upon the armies destined for service in France. 

In the EngUsh army there were divisions from Australia and 
New Zealand and there were a number of Indian troops and Terri- 
torials. The whole force was put under the command of General 



308 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR 

Sir Ian Hamilton. The commander-in-chief on the Turkish side 
was the German General Liman von Sanders, the former chief of 
the military mission at Constantmople. The bulk of the expedi- 
tionary force, which numbered altogether about a hundred and 
twenty thousand men, were, therefore, men whose presence in the 
east did not weaken the Allied strength in the west. 

The great difficulty of the new plan was that it was impossible 
to surprise the enemy. The whole Galhpoh Peninsula was so small 
that a landing at any point v/ould be promptly observed, and the 
nature of the ground was of such a character that progress from any 
point must necessarily be slow. The problem was therefore a 
simple one. 

The expeditionary force gathered in Egypt during the first 
half of April, and about the middle of the month was being sent to 
Lemnos. Germany was well aware of the EngUsh plans, and was 
doing all that it could to provide a defense. 

On April 23d the movement began, and about five o'clock in 
the afternoon the first of the transports slowly made its way through 
the maze of shipping toward the entrance of Mudros Bay. 

Immediately the patent apathy, which had gradually over- 
whelmed everyone, changed to the utmost enthusiasm, and as the 
huge liners steamed through the fleet, thek decks yellow with 
khaki, the crews of the warships cheered them on to victory while 
the bands played them out with an unending variety of popular 
airs. The soldiers in the transports answered this last salutation 
from the navy with deafening cheers, and no more inspiring 
spectacle has ever been seen than this great expedition. 

The whole of the fleet from the transports had been divided 
up into five divisions and there were three main landings. The 
twenty-ninth division disembarked off the point of the GaUipoli 
Peninsula near Sedd-el-Bahr, where its operations were covered 
both from the gulf of Saros and from the Dardanelles by the fire of 
the covering warships. The Australian and New Zealand contin- 
gent disembarked north of Gaba Tepe. Further north a naval 
division madea d emonstration. 

Awaiting the Austrahans was a party of Turks who had been 
intrenched almost on the shore and had opened up a terrible fusiUade. 
The Austrahan volunteers rose, as a man, to the occasion. They 
waited neither for orders nor for the boats to reach the beach, but 



GLORIOUS GALLIPOLI S09 

springing out into the sea they went in to the shore, and forming 
some sort of a rough line rushed straight on the flashes of the 
enemy's rifles. In less than a quarter of an hour the Turks were 
in full flight. 

While the Australians and New Zealanders, or Anzacs as they 
are now generally known from the initials of the words Austrahan- 
New Zealand Army Corps, were fighting so gallantly at Gaba Tepe, 
the British troops were landing at the southern end of the Gallipoli 
Peninsula. The advance was slow and difficult. The Turk was 
pushed back, httle by little, and the ground gained organized. 
The details of this progress, though full of incidents of the greatest 
courage and daring, need not be recounted. 

On June the 4th a general attack was made, preceded by heavy 
bombardments by all guns, but after terrific fighting, in which many 
prisoners were captured and great losses suffered, the net result was 
an advance of about five hundred yards. As time went on the 
general impression throughout the Allied countries was that the 
expedition had failed. On June 30th the losses of the Turks were 
estimated at not less than seventy thousand, and the British naval 
and mihtary losses up to June 1st, aggregated 38,635 officers and 
men. At that time the British and French allies held but a small 
corner of the area to be conquered. In all of .these attacks the 
part played by the Australian and New Zealand army corps was 
especially notable. Reinforcements were repeatedly sent to the 
Allies, who worked more and more feverishly as time went on with 
the hope of aiding Russia, which was then desperately strugghng 
against the great German advance. 

On August 17th it was reported that a landing had been 
made at Suvla Bay, the extreme western point of the Peninsula. 
From this point it was hoped to threaten the Turkish communica- 
tion with their troops at the lov/er end of the Peninsula. This new 
enterprise, however, failed to make any impression, and in the 
first part of September, vigorous Turkish counter-offensives gained 
territory from the Franco-British troops. According to the English 
reports the Turks paid a terrible price for their success. 

It had now become evident that the expedition was a failure. 
The Germans were already gloating over what they called the 
''failure of British sea power," and Enghsh publicists were attempt- 
ing to show that, though the enterprise had failed, the very presence 



310 HISTOKY OF THE WORLD Y^AR 

of a strong Allied force at Saloniki had been an enormous gain. 
The fii'st official announcement of failure was made December 
20, 1916, when it was announced that the British forces at Anzac 
and Suvla Bay had been withdrawn, and that only the minor 
positions near Sedd-el-Bahr were occupied. Great Britain's loss 
of officers and men at the Dardanelles up to December 11th was 
112,921, according to an announcement made in the House of 
Commons by the ParHamentary Under Secretary for War. Besides 
these casualties the number of sick admitted to hospitals was 
96,683. The decision to evacuate Galiipoli was made in the course 
of November by the British Government as the result of the early 
expressed opinion of General Monro, who had succeeded General 
Hamilton on October 28, 1915. 

General Monro found himself confronted with a serious problem 
in the attempt to withdraw an army of such a size from positions not 
more than three hundred yards from the enemy's trenches, and 
to embark on open beaches every part of which was within effective 
range of Turldsh guns. Moreover, the evacuation must be done 
gradually, as it was impossible to move the whole army at once 
with such means of transportation as existed. The plan was to 
remove the munitions, suppUes and heavy guns by instalments, 
working only at night, carrying off at the same time a large portion 
of the troops, but leaving certain picked battalions to guard the 
trenches. Ever}^ endeavor had to be made for concealment. The 
plan was splendidly successful, and the Turks apparently com- 
pletely deceived. On December 20th the embarkation of the 
last troops at Suvla was accomplished. The operations at Anzac 
were conducted in the same way. Only picked battalions were left 
to the end, and these were carried safely off. 

The success of the Suvla and Anzac evacuation made the 
position at Cape Helles more dangerous. The Turks were on the 
lookout, and it seemed almost impossible that they could be again 
deceived. On January 7th an attack was made by the Turks upon 
the trenches, which was beaten back. That night more than half 
the troops had left the Peninsula. The next day there was a 
heavy storm which made embarkation difficult, but it was never- 
theless accomplished. The v/hole evacuation was a clever and 
successful bit of work. 




CHAPTER XXI 

The Greatest Naval Battle in History 

ERMANY'S ambition for conquest at sea had been 
nursed and carefully fostered for twenty years. During 
the decade immediately preceding the declaration of 
war, it had embarked upon a poHcy of naval upbuilding 
that brought it into direct conflict with England's sea pohcy. 
Thereafter it became a race in naval construction, England pihng 
up a huge debt in its determination to construct two tons of naval 
shipping to every one ton built by Germany. 

Notwithstanding Great Britain's efforts in this direction, 
Germany's naval experts, with the ruthless von Tirpitz at their 
head, maintained that, given a fair seaway with ideal weather 
conditions favoring the low visibility tactics of the German sea 
command, a victory for the Teutonic ships would follow. It was 
this belief that drew the ships of the German cruiser squadron and 
High Seas Fleet off the coast of Jutland and Horn Reef into the 
great battle that decided the supremacy of the sea. 

The 31st of May, 1916, will go down in history as the date of 
this titanic conflict. The British light cruiser Galatea on patrol 
duty near Horn Reef reported at 2.20 o'clock on the afternoon 
of that day, that it had sighted smoke plumes denoting the advance 
of enemy vessels from the direction of Helgoland Bight. Fifteen 
minutes later the smoke plumes were in such number and volume 
that the advance of a considerable force to the northward and 
eastward was indicated. It was reasoned by Vice-Admiral Beatty, 
to whom the Galatea had sent the news by radio, that the enemy 
in rounding Horn Reef would inevitably be brought into action. 
The first ships of the enemy were sighted at 3.31 o'clock. These 
were the battle screen of fast light cruisers. Back of these were 
live modern battle cruisers of the highest power and armament. 

The report of the battle, by an eye-witness, that was issued 
ypon semiofficial authority of the British Government, follows: 
First Phase, 3.30 p. m. May 31st. Beatty's battle cruisers, 

311 



312 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR 

consisting of the Lion, Princess Royal, Queen Mary, Tiger, Inflexible, 
Indomitable, Invincible, Indefatigable, and New Zealand, were on 
a southeasterly course, followed at about two miles distance by 
the four battleships of the class known as Queen EUzabeths. 

Enemy light cruisers were sighted and shortly afterward the 
head of the German battle cruiser squadron, consisting of the 
new cruiser Hindenburg, the Seydlitz, 'Derfilinger, Liitzow, Moltke, 
and possibly the Salamis, 

Beatty at once began firing at a range of about 20,000 yards 
(twelve miles) which shortened to 16,000 yards (nine miles) as the 
fleets closed. The Germans could see the British distinctly out- 
lined against the light yellow sky. The Germans, covered by a 
haze, could be very indistinctly made out by the British gunners. 

The Queen Elizabeths opened fire on one after another as they 
came within range. The German battle cruisers turned to port 
and drew away to about 20,000 yards. 

Second Phase, 4.40 p. m. A destroyer screen then appeared 
beyond the German battle cruisers. The whole German High 
Seas Fleet could be seen approaching on the northeastern horizon 
in three divisions, coming to the support of their battle cruisers. 

The German battle cruisers now turned right round 16 points 
and took station in front of the battleships of the High Fleet. 

Beatty, with his battle cruisers and supporting battleships, 
therefore, had before him the whole of the German battle fleet, and 
Jellicoe was still some distance away. 

The opposing fleets were now moving parallel to one another 
in opposite directions, and but for a master maneuver on the part 
of Beatty the British advance ships would have been cut off from 
Jellicoe's Grand Fleet. In order to avoid this and at the same time 
prepare the way so that Jellicoe might envelop his adversary, 
Beatty immediately also turned right around 16 points, so as to 
bring his ships parallel to the German battle cruisers and facing the 
same direction. 

As soon as he was around he increased to full speed to get 
ahead of the Germans and take up a tactical position in advance 
of their line. He was able to do this owing to the superior speed of 
the British battle cruisers. 

Just before the turning point was reached the Indefatigable 
sank, and the Queen Mary and the Invincible also were lost at the 







. J^s 


"■"''. "■ '^C^' r-- -f * 


H .#' i- 






GREATEST NAVAL BATTLE IN HISTORY 315 

turning point, where, of course, the High Seas Fleet concentrated 
their fire. 

A little earlier, as the German battle cruisers were turning, 
the Queen EUzabeths had in similar manner concentrated their 
fire on the turning point and destroyed a new German battle 
cruiser, beUeved to be the Hindenburg. 

Beatty had now got around and headed away with the loss 
of three ships, racing parallel to the German battle cruisers. The 
Queen EHzabeths followed behind engaging the main High Seas 
Fleet. 

Third Phase, 5' p. m. The Queen EHzabeths now turned short 
to port 16 points in order to follow Beatty. The Warspite jammed 
her steering gear, failed to get around, and drew the fire of six of 
the enemy, who closed in upon her. 

The Germans claimed her as a loss, since on paper she ought 
to have been lost, but, as a matter of fact, though repeatedly 
straddled by shell fire with the water boihng up all around her, 
she was not seriously hit, and was able to sink one of her oppo- 
nents. Her captain recovered control of the vessel, brought her 
around, and followed her consorts. 

In the meantime the Barham, Valiant and Malaya turned 
short so as to avoid the danger spot where the Queen Mary and 
the Invincible had been lost, and for an hour, until Jellicoe arrived, 
fought a delaying action against the High Seas Fleet. 

The Warspite joined them at about 5.15 o'clock, and all 
four ships were so successfully maneuvered in order to upset the 
spotting corrections of their opponents that no hits of a seriously 
disabling character were suffered. They had the speed over their 
opponents by fully four knots, and were able to draw away from 
part of the long line of German battleships, which almost filled 
up the horizon. 

At this time the Queen EHzabeths were steadily firing on at 
the flashes of German gims at a range which varied between 12,000 
and 15,000 yards, especially against those ships which were nearest 
them. The Germans were enveloped in a mist and only smoke 
and flashes were visible. 

By 6.45 half of the High Seas Fleet had been left out of range, 
and the Queen EHzabeths were steaming fast to join hands with 
Jellicoe. 



316 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR 

To return to Beatty's battle cruisers. They had succeeded 
in outflanking the German battle cruisers, which were, therefore, 
obliged to turn a full right angle to starboard to avoid being headed. 

Heavy fighting was renewed between the opposing battle 
cruiser squadrons, during which the Derfflinger was sunk; but 
toward 6 o'clock the German fire slackened very considerably, 
showing that Beatty's battle cruisers and the Queen Elizabeths had 
inflicted serious damage on their immediate opponents. 

Fourth Phase, 6 p. m. The Grand Fleet was now in sight, 
and, coming up fast in three directions, the Queen Elizabeths 
altered their course four points to the starboard and drew in toward 
the enemy to allow Jellicoe room to deploy into line. 

The Grand Fleet was perfectly maneuvered and the very diffi- 
cult operation of deploying between the battle cruisers and the 
Queen Elizabeths was perfectly timed. 

Jellicoe came up, fell in behind Beatty's cruisers, and followed 
by the damaged but still serviceable Queen Elizabeths, steamed 
right across the head of the German fleet. 

The first of the ships to come into action were the Revenue 
and the Royal Oak with their fifteen-inch guns, and the Agincourt, 
which fired from her seven turrets with the speed almost of a 
Maxim gun. 

The whole British fleet had now become concentrated. They 
had been perfectly maneuvered, so as to ''cross theT" of the High 
Seas Fleet, and, indeed, only decent light was necessary to com- 
plete their work of destroying the Germans in detail. The light 
did improve for a few minutes, and the conditions were favorable 
to the British fleet, which was now in line approximately north 
and south across the head of the Germans. 

During the few minutes of good light Jellicoe smashed up the 
first three German ships, but the mist came down, visibility sud- 
denly failed, and the defeated High Seas Fleet was able to draw off 
in ragged divisions. 

Fifth Phase, Night. The Germans were followed by the 
British, who still had them enveloped between Jellicoe on the 
west, Beatty on the north, and Evan Thomas with his three Queen 
Elizabeths on the south. The Warspite had been sent back to 
her base. 

During the night the torpedo boat destroyers heavily attacked 



GREATEST NAVAL BATTLE IN HISTORY 317 




HOW THE GREAT NAVAL BATTLE OF JUTLAND WAS FOUGHT 

This chart must be taken only as a general indication of the courses of the opposing 
fleets. Sir David Beatty, with two squadrons of battle cruisers and one squadron of 
fast battleshins, first steamed southward and southeastward of the German battle 
cruiser squadron; then, sighting the German battle fleet, turned northward, after- 
wards bearing eastward and connecting with Sir John Jellicoe's battle squadron. 



318 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR 

the German ships, and, although they lost seriously themselves, 
succeeded in sinking two of the enemy. 

Coordination of the units of the fleet was practically impos- 
sible to keep up, and the Germans discovered by the rays of their 
searchlights the three Queen Elizabeths, not more than 4,000 yards 
away. Unfortunately they were then able to escape between the 
battleships and Jellicoe, since the British gunners were not able to 
fire, as the destroyers were in the way. 

So ended the Jutland battle, which was fought as had been 
planned and very nearly a great success. It was spoiled by the 
unfavorable weather conditions, especially at the critical moment, 
when the whole British fleet was concentrated and engaged in 
crushing the head of the German line. 

Commenting on the engagement. Admiral Jellicoe said: 
"The battle cruiser fleet, gallantly led by Vice-Admiral Beatty, 
and admirably supported by the ships of the fifth battle squadron 
under Rear Admiral Evan-Thomas, fought the action under, at 
times, disadvantageous conditions, especially in regard to light, 
in a manner that was in keeping with the best traditions of the 
service." 

His estimate of the German losses was: two battleships of 
the dreadnaught type, one of the Deutschland type, which was 
seen to sink; the battle cruiser Liitzow, admitted by the Germans; 
one battle cruiser of the dreadnaught type, one battle cruiser 
seen to be so severely damaged that its return was extremely 
doubtful; five light cruisers, seen to sink — one of them possibly 
a battleship; six destroyers seen to sink, three destroyers so 
damaged that it was doubtful if they Vv^ould be able to reach port, 
and a submarine sunk. The official German report admitted only 
eleven ships sunk; the first British report placed the total at 
eighteen, but Admiral JelHcoe enumerated twenty-one German 
vessels as probably lost. 

The Admiral paid a fine tribute to the German naval men: 
"The enemy," he said, "fought with the gallantry that was expected 
of him. We particularly admired the conduct of those on board a 
disabled German Hght cruiser which passed down the British line 
shortly after the deployment under a heavy fire, which was returned 
by the only gun left in action. The conduct of the officers and 
men was entirely beyond praise. On all sides it is reported that 



GREATEST NAVAL BATTLE IN HISTORY 319 

the glorious traditions of the past were most worthily upheld; 
whether in the heavy ships, cruisers, hght cruisers, or destroyers, 
the same admirable spirit prevailed. The officers and men were 
cool and determined, with a cheeriness that would have carried 
them through anything. The heroism of the wounded was the 
admiration of all. I cannot adequately express the pride with 
which the spirit of the fleet filled me." 

At daylight on the 1st of June the British battle fleet, being 
southward of Horn Reef, turned northward in search of the enemy 
vessels. The visibiHty early on the first of June was three to 
four miles less than on May 31st, and the torpedo-boat destroyers, 
being out of visual touch, did not rejoin the fleet until 9 a. m. 
The British fleet remained in the proximity of the battlefield and 
near the fine of approach to the German ports until 11 a. m., in 
spite of the disadvantage of long distances from fleet bases and the 
danger incurred in waters adjacent to the enemy's coasts from 
submarines and torpedo craft. 

The enemy, however, made no sign, and the admiral was 
reluctantly compelled to the conclusion that the High Sea Fleet 
had returned into port. Subsequent events proved this assump- 
tion to have been correct. The British position must have been 
known to the enemy, as at 4 A. m. the fleet engaged a Zeppelin 
about five minutes, during which time she had ample opportunty 
to note and subsequently report the position and course of the 
British fleet. 

The Germans at first claimed a victory for their fleet. The 
test, of course, was the outcome of the battle. The fact that the 
German fleet retreated and nevermore ventured forth from beneath 
the protecting guns and mine fields around Helgoland, demon- 
strates beyond dispute that the British were entitled to the triumph. 
The German official report makes the best presentation of the 
German case. It follows in full: 

The High Sea Fleet, consisting of three battleship squadrons, five 
battle cruiserS; and a large number of small cruisers, with several destroyer 
flotillas, was cruising in the Skagerrak on May 31st for the purpose, as on 
earher occasions, of offering battle to the British fleet. The vanguard of 
small cruisers at 4.30 o'clock in the afternoon (German time) suddenly 
encountered, ninety miles west of Hanstholm (a cape on the northwest 
coast of Jutland), a group of eight of the newest cruisers of the Calliope 
class and fifteen or twenty of the most modern destroyers. 



320 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR 

While the German light forces and the first cruiser squadron under 
Vice-Admiral Hipper were following the British, who were retiring north- 
westward, the German battle cruisers sighted to the westward Vice- 
Admiral Beatty's battle squadron of six ships, including four of the Lion 
type and two of the Indefatigable type. Beatty's squadron developed a 
battle line on a southeasterly course and Vice-Admiral Hipper formed his 
line ahead on the same general course and approached for a running fight. 
He opened fire at 5.49 o'clock in the afternoon with heavj'' artillery at a 
range of 13,000 meters against the superior enemy. The weather was 
clear and light, and the sea was light with a northwest wind. 

After about a quarter of an hour a violent explosion occurred on the 
last cruiser of the Indefatigable type. It was caused by a heavy shell, 
and destroyed the vessel. 

About 6.20 o'clock in the afternoon five warships of the Queen Eliza- 
beth type came from the west and joined the British battle cruiser fine, 
powerfully reinforcing with their fifteen-inch guns the five British battle 
cruisers remaining after 6.20 o'clock. To equahze this superiority Vice- 
Admiral Hipper ordered the destroyers to attack the enemy. The British 
destroyers and small cruisers interposed, and a bitter engagement at close 
range ensued, in the course of which a fight cruiser participated. 

The Germans lost two torpedo boats, the crews of which were rescued 
by sister ships under a heavy fire. Two British destroyers v/ere sunk by 
artillery, and two others — the Nestor and Nomad — ^remained on the 
scene in a crippled condition. These later were destroyed by the main 
fleet after German torpedo boats had rescued all the survivors. 

While this engagement was in progress a mighty explosion, caused 
by a big shell, broke the Queen Mary, the third ship in line, asunder, 
at 6.30 o'clock. 

Soon thereafter the German main battleship fleet was sighted to the 
southward, steering north. The hostile fast squadrons thereupon turned 
northward, closing the first part of the fight, which lasted about an hour. 

The British retired at high speed before the German fleet, which 
followed closely. The German battle cruisers continued the artillery 
combat with increasing intensity, particularly with the division of the 
vessels of the Queen Elizabeth type, and in this the leading German battle- 
ship division participated intermittently. The hostile ships showed a 
desire to run in a flat curve ahead of the point of our line and to cross it. 

At 7.45 o'clock in the evening British small cruisers and destroj^ers 
launched an attack against^ our battle cruisers, who avoided the tor- 
pedoes by maneuvering, while the British battle cruisers retired from the 
engagement, in which they did not participate further as far as can be 
established. Shortly thereafter a German reconnoitering group, which 
was parrying the destroyer attack, received an attack from the north- 
east. The cruiser Wiesbaden was soon put out of action in this attack. 
The German torpedo flotillas immediately attacked the heavy ships. 

Appearing shadow-like from the haze bank to the northeast was 



GREATEST NAVAL BATTLE IN HISTORY 321 

made out a long line of at least twenty-five battle ships, which at first 
sought a junction with the British battle cruisers and those of the Queen 
Ehzabeth type on a northwesterly to westerly course, and then turned 
on an easterly to southeasterly course. 

With the advent of the British main fleet, whose center consisted of 
three squadrons of eight battleships each, with a fast division of three 
battle cruisers of the Invincible type on the northern end, and three of 
the newest vessels of the Royal Sovereign class, armed with fifteen-inch 
guns, at the southern end, there began about 8 o'clock in the evening the 
third section of the engagement, embracing the combat between the main 
fleets. 

Vice-Admiral Scheer determined to attack the British main fleet, 
which he now recognized was completely assembled and about doubly 
superior. The German battleship squadron, headed by battle cruisers, 
steered first toward the extensive haze bank to the northeast, where the 
crippled cruiser Wiesbaden was still receiving a heavy fire. Around the 
Wiesbaden stubborn individual fights now occurred. 

The light enemy forces, supported by an armored cruiser squadron of 
five ships of the Minatour, Achilles, and Duke of Edinburgh classes com- 
ing from the northeast, were encountered and apparently surprised on 
account of the decreasing visibihty of our battle cruisers and leading 
battleship division. The squadron came under a violent and heavy 
fire, by which the small cruisers Defense and Black Prince were sunk. 
The cruiser Warrior regained its own line a wreck and later sank. Another 
small cruiser was damaged severely. 

Two destroyers already had fallen victims to the attack of German 
torpedo boats against the leading British battleships and a small cruiser 
and two destroyers were damaged. The German battle cruisers and 
leading battleship division had in these engagements come under increased 
fire of the enemy's battleship squadron, which, shortly after 8 o'clock, 
could be made out in the haze turning to the northeastv/ard and finally 
to the east. Germans observed, amid the artillery combat and shelling 
of great intensity, signs of the effect of good shooting between 8.20 and 
8.30 o'clock particularly^. Several officers on German ships observed 
that a battleship of the Queen Ehzabeth class blew up under conditions 
similar to that of the Queen Mary. The Invincible sank after being hit 
severely. A ship of the Iron Duke class had earher received a torpedo 
hit, and one of the Queen Elizabeth class was running around in a circle, 
its steering apparatus apparently having been hit. 

The Liitzow was hit by at least fifteen heavy shells and was unable 
to maintain its place in fine. Vice-Admiral Hipper, therefore, trans- 
shipped to the Moltke on a torpedo boat and under a heavy fire. The 
Derfflinger meantime took the lead temporarily. Parts of the German 
torpedo flotilla attacked the enemy's main fleet and heard detonations. 
In the action the Germans lost a torpedo boat. An enemy destroyer 
was seen in a sinking condition, having been hit by a torpedo. 



32^ HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR 

After the first violent onslaught into the mass of the superior enemy 
the opponents lost sight of each other in the smoke by powder clouds. 
After a short cessation in the artillery combat Vice Admiral S cheer ordered 
a new attack by all the available forces. 

German battle cruisers, which with several light cruisers and torpedo 
boats again headed the line, encountered the enemy soon after 9 o'clock 
and renewed the heavy fire, which was answered by them from the mist, 
and then by the leading division of the main fleet. Armored cruisers now 
flung themselves in a reckless onset at extreme speed against the enemy 
fine in order to cover the attack of the torpedo boats. They approached 
the enemy fine, although covered with shot from 6,000 meters distances. 
Several German torpedo flotillas dashed forward to attack, delivered 
torpedoes, and returned, despite the most severe counterfire, with the 
loss of only one boat. The bitter artillery fight was again interrupted, 
after this second violent onslaught, by the smoke from guns and funnels. 

Several torpedo flotillas, which were ordered to attack somewhat 
later, found, after penetrating the smoke cloud, that the enemy^ fleet was 
no longer before them; nor, when the fleet commander again brought 
the German squadrons upon the southerly and southwesterly course 
where the enemy was last seen, could our opponents be found. Only 
once more — shortly before 10.30 o'clock — did the battle flare up. For a 
short time in the late twihght German battle cruisers sighted four enemy 
capital sliips to seaward and opened fire immediately. As the two Ger- 
man battleship squadrons attacked, the enemy turned and vanished in 
the darkness. Older German light cruisers of the fourth reconnoissance 
group also were engaged with the older enemy armored cruisers in a 
short fight. This ended the day battle. 

The German divisions, which, after losing sight of the enemy, began 
a night cruise in a southerly direction, were attacked until dawn by enemy 
light force in rapid succession. 

The attacks were favored by the general strategic situation and the 
particularly dark night. 

The cruiser Frauenlob was injured severely during the engagement 
of the fourth reconnoissance group with a superior cruiser force, and was 
lost from sight. 

One armored cruiser of the Cressy class suddenly appeared close to a 
German battleship and was shot into fire after forty seconds, and sank in 
four minutes. 

The Florent (?) Destroyer 60, (the names were hard to decipher in 
the darkness and therefore were uncertainly established) and four destroyers 
— 3, 78, 06, and 27 — were destroyed by our fire. One destroyer 
was cut in two by the ram of a German battleship. Seven destroyers, 
including the G-30, were hit and severely damaged. These, including the 
Tipperary and Turbulent, which after saving survivors, were left behind 
in a sinking condition, drifted past our line, some of them burning at the 
bow or stern. 



GREATEST NAVAL BATTLE IN HISTORY 323 

The tracks of countless torpedoes were sighted by the German ships, 
but only the Pommern (a battleship) fell an immediate victim to a torpedo. 

The cruiser Rostock was hit, but remained afloat. The cruiser Elbing 
was damaged by a German battleship during an unavoidable maneuver. 
After vain endeavors to keep the ship afloat the Elbing was blown up, 
but only after her crew had embarked on torpedo boats. A post torpedo 
boat was struck by a mine laid by the enemy. 

Following are the statistics of the fight : 

ADMITTED LOSSES— BRITISH 

NAME TONNAGE PERSONNEIi 

Queen Mary (.battle cruiser) 27,000 1,000 

Indefatigable (battle cruiser) 18,750 800 

Invincible (battle cruiser) 17,250 750 

Defense (armored cruiser) 14,600 755 

Warrior (armored cruiser) 13,550 704 

Black Prince (armored cruiser) 13,550 704 

Tipperary (destroyer) .' 1,850 150 

Turbulent (destroyer) 1,850 150 

Shark (destroyer) 950 100 

Sparrowhawk (destroyer) 950 100 

Ardent (destroyer) 950 100 

Fortune (destroyer) 950 100 

Nomad (destroyer) 950 ] 00 

Nestor (destroyer) 950 100 

British Totals 

Battle cruisers 63,000 2,550 

Armored cruisers 41,700 2,163 

Destroyers 9,400 900 

Fourteen ships 114,100 5,613 

ADMITTED LOSSES— GERMAN* 

NAME TONNAGE JERSONNEL 

Liitzow (battle cruiser) 26,600 1,200 

Pommern (battleship) 13,200 729 

Wiesbaden (cruiser) 5,600 450 

Frauenlob (cruiser) 2,715 264 

Elbing (cruiser) 5,000 450 

Rostock (cruiser) 4,900 373 

Five destroyers 5,000 500 

German Totals 

Battle cruisers 39,800 1,929 

Cruisers. 18,215 1,537 

Destroyers 5,000 500 

Eleven ships 63,015 3,966 

.*'^^^^^^S'^''^'^^^''-siyinioTvrhat they are worth, but no one outside of Germany doubted but that 

their losses v/ere very much greater than admitted in the official report. uuuutcu uut mai; 



324 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR 

TOTAL LOSSES OF MEN 
British 

Dead or misKsing 6,104 

Wounded 513 

Total 6,617 

German 

Dead or missing 2,414 

Wounded 449 

Total 2,863 

LOSS IN MONEY VALUE 
(Rough Estimate) 

British $115,000,000 

German 63,000,000 

Total $178,000,000 

While the world was still puzzling over the conflicting reports 
of the battle of Jutland came the shocking news that Field Marshal 
Lord Horatio Herbert Kitchener, the British Secretary of State 
for War, had perished off the West Orkney Islands on June 5th, 
through the sinking of the British cruiser Hampshire. The entire 
crew was also lost, except twelve men, a warrant officer and eleven 
seamen, who escaped on a raft. Earl Kitchener was on his way to 
Russia, at the request of the Russian Government, for a consulta- 
tion regarding munitions to be furnished the Russian army. He 
was intending to go to Archangel and visit Petrograd, and expected 
to be back in London by June 20th. He was accompanied by 
Hugh James O'Beirne, former Councillor of the British Embassy 
at Petrograd, 0. A. Fitz-Gerald, his military secretary, Brigadier- 
General EUarshaw, and Sir Frederick Donaldson, all of whom 
were lost. 

The cause of the sinking of the Hampshire is not known. 
It is supposed that it struck a mine, but the tragedy very naturally 
brought into existence many stories which ascribe his death to 
more direct German action. 

Seaman Rogerson, one of the survivors, describes Lord 
Kitchener's last moments as follows: "Of those who left the ship, 
and have survived, I was the one who saw Lord Kitchener last. 
He went down with the ship, he did not leave her. I saw Captain 
Seville help his boat's crew to clear away his galley. At the same 
time the Captain was calling to Lord Kitchener to come to the 



GREATEST NAVAL BATTLE IN HISTORY 32 



OHii 



boat, but owing to the noise made by the wind and sea, Lord 
Kitchener could not hear him, I thuik. When the explosion 
occun-ed, Kitchener walked calmly from the captam's cabin, 
went up the ladder and on to the quarter-deck. There I saw hkn 
walking quite collectedly, talking to two of the officers. All three 
were wearing khaki and had no overcoats on. Kitchener calmly 
watched the preparations for abandoning the ship, which were 
going on in a steady and orderly way. The crew just went to their 
stations, obeyed orders, and did their best to get out the boats. 



^ k,i- -.■ ■:^ 



-^/VtfA .A-K C 'TIC OGE--*.?/ ^^' 




Where Earl Kitchener Met His Death 

But it was impossible. Owing to the rough weather, no boats 
could be lowered. Those that were got out were smashed up at 
once. No boats left the ship. What people on the shore thought 
to be boats leaving, were rafts. Men did get into the boats as 
these lay in their cradles, thinking that as the ship went under the 
boats would float, but the ship sank by the head, and when she 
went she turned a somersault forward, carrying down with her all 
the boats and those in them. I do not think Kitchener got into 
a boat. When I sprang to a raft he was still on the starboard side 
of the quarter-deck, talking with the officers. From the Uttle time 



326 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR 

that elapsed between my leaving the ship and her sinking I feel 
certain Kitchener went down with her, and was on deck at the 
time she sank." 

The British admiralty, after investigation, gave out a state- 
ment declaring that the vessel struck a mine, and sank about 
fifteen minutes after. 

The news of Lord Kitchener's death shocked the whole Allied 
world. He was the most important personality in the British 
Empire. He had built up the British army, and his name was 
one to conjure by. His efficiency was a proverb, and he had an 
air of mystery about him that made him a sort of a popular hero. 
He was great before the World War began; he was the conqueror 
of the Soudan; the winner of the South African campaign; the 
reorganizer of Egypt. In his work as Secretary of War he had 
met with some criticism, but he possessed, more than any other 
man, the public confidence. At the beginning of the war he was 
appointed Secretary of War at the demand of an overwhelming 
pubhc opinion. He reahzed more than any one else what such a 
war would_mean. When others thought of it as an adventure 
to be soon concluded, he recognized that there would be years of 
bitter conflict. He asked England to give up its cherished tradi- 
tion of a volunteer army; to go through arduous military training; 
he saw the danger to the empire, and he alone, perhaps, had the 
authoritj'^ to inspire his countrymen with the will to sacrifice. But 
his work was done. The great British army was in the field. 



CHAPTER XXII 

The Russian Campaign 

N THE very beginning Russia had marked out one point for 
attack. This was the city of Cracow. No doubt the Grand 
Duke Nicholas had not hoped to be able to invest that city 
early. The slowness of the mobilization of the Russian army 
made a certain prudence advisable at the beginning of the cam- 
paign. But the great success of his armies in Lemberg encouraged 
more daring aims. He had invested Przemysl, and Galicia lay 
before him. Accordingly, he set his face toward Cracow. 

Cracow, from a miUtary point of view, is the gate both of 
Vienna and Berlin. A hundred miles west of it is the famous gap 
of Moravia, between the Carpathian and the Bohemian mountains, 
which leads down into Austria. Through this gap runs the great 
railway connecting Silesia with Vienna, and the Grand Duke 
knew that if he could capture Cracow he would have an easy road 
before him to the Austrian capital. Cracow also is the key of 
Germany. 

Seventy miles from the city lies the Oder River. An army 
might enter Germany by this gate and turn the line of Germany's 
frontier fortresses. The Oder had been well fortified, but an invader 
coming from Cracow might move upon the western bank. The 
Russian plan no doubt was to threaten both enemy capitals. 
Moreover, an advance of Russia from Cracow would take its 
armies into Silesia, full of coal and iron mines, and one of the 
greatest manufacturing districts in the German Empire. This 
would be a real success, and all Germany would feel the blow. 
Another reason for the Russian advance in Galicia was her 
desire to control the GaUcian oil wells. To Germany petrol had 
become one of the foremost munitions of war. Since she could not 
obtain it from either America or Russia she must get it from 
Austria, and the Austrian oil fields were all in GaHcia. This, in 
itself, would explain the Galician campaign. Moreover, through 
the Carpathian Mouiitains it was possible to make frequent raids 

327 



328 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR 

into Hungary, and Russia understood well the feeling of Hungary 
toward her German allies. She hoped that when Hungary perceived 
her regiments sacrificed and her plains overrun by Russian troops, 
she would regret that she had allowed herself to be sacrificed to 
Prussian ambition. The Russians, therefore, suddenly moved 
toward Cracow. 

Then von Hindenburg came to the rescue. The supreme com- 
mand of the Austrian forces was given to him. The defenses of 
Cracow were strengthened under the direction of the Germans, and 
a German army advanced from the Posen frontier toward the 
northern bank of the Vistula. The advance threatened the 
Russian right, and, accordingly, within ten days' march of Cracow, 
the Russians stopped. The German offensive in Poland had begun. 
The news of the German advance came about the fifth of October. 
Von Hindenburg, who had been fighting in East Prussia, had at last 
perceived that nothing could be gained there. The vulnerable part 
of Russia was the city of Warsaw. This was the capital of Poland, 
with a population of about three-quarters of a million. If he could 
take Warsaw, he would not only have pleasant quarters for the 
winter but Russia would be so badly injured that no further 
offensive from her need be anticipated for a long period. Von 
Hindenburg had with him a large army. In his center he probably 
had three-quarters of a million men, and on his right the Austrian 
army in Cracow^ which must have reached a million. 

Counting the troops operating in East Prussia and along the 
Carpathians, and the garrison of Przemysl, the Teuton army must 
have had two and a half million soldiers. Russia, on the other 
hand, at this time could not have had as many as two million men 
in the whole nine hundred miles of her battle front. 

The fight for Warsaw began Friday, October 16, and continued 
for three days, von Hindenburg being personally in command. 
On Monday the Germans found themselves in trouble. A Rus- 
sian attack on their left wing had come with crushing force. Von 
Hindenburg found his left wing thrown back, and the whole Ger- 
man movement thrown into disorder. Meanwhile an attempt to 
cross the Vistula at Josefov had also been a failure. The Rus- 
sians allowed the Geraians to pass with slight resistance, waited 
until they arrived at the village Kazimirjev, a district of low hills 
and swampy flats, and then suddenly overwhelmed them. 



THE RUSSIAN CAMPAIGN 329 

Next day tiie Russians crossed the river themselves, and 
advanced along the whole line, driving the enemy before them, 
thi'ough great woods of spruce out into the plains on the west. 
This forest region was well known to the Russian guides, and the 
Germans suffered much as the Russians had suffered in East 
Prussia. Ruzsky, the Russian commander, pursued persistent^; 
the Germans retreating first to Kielce, whence they were driven, on 
the 3d of November, with great losses, and then being broken into 
two pieces, with the north retiring westward and the south wing 
southwest toward Cracow. 

Rennenkampf's attack on the German left wing was equally 
successful, and von Hindenburg was driven into full retreat. 
The only success won during this campaign was that in the far 
south Vs^here Austrian troops were sweeping eastward toward the 
San. This army drove back the Russians under Ivanov, reoccupied 
Jaroslav and relieved Przemysl. This was a welcome relief to 
Przemysl, for the garrison was nearly starved, and it was well for 
the garrison that the relief came, for in a few days the Russians 
returned, recaptured Jaroslav and reinvested Przemysl. As von 
Hindenburg retreated he left complete destruction in his v/ake, 
roads, bridges, railroad tracks, water towers, railway stations, all 
were destroyed ; even telegraph posts, broken or sawn through, and 
insulators broken to bits. 

It was now the turn of Russia to make a premature advance, 
and to pay for it. Doubtless the Grand Duke Nicholas, whose 
strategy up to this point had been so admirable, knew very well 
the danger of a new advance in Galicia, but he realized the immense 
political as well as military advantages which were to be obtained 
by the capture of Cracow. He therefore attempted to move an 
army through Poland as well as through Galicia, hoping that the 
army in Poland would keep von Hindenburg busy, while the 
Galician army would deal with Cracow. 

The advance was slow on account of the damaged Polish roads. 
It was preceded by a cavahy screen which moved with more speed. 
On November 10th, the vanguard crossed the Posen frontier and 
cut the railway on the Cracow-Posen line. This reconnaissance 
convinced the Russian general that the German army did not 
propose to make a general stand, and it seemed to him that if he 
struck strongly with his center along the Warta, he might destroy 



330 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR 

the left flank of the German southern army, while his^own left 
flank was assaulting Cracow. He beUeved that even if his attack 
upon the Warta failed, the Russian center could at any rate pre- 
vent the enemy from interfering with the attack further south 
upon Cracow. 

The movement therefore began, and by November 12th, the 
Russian cavalry had taken Miechow on the German frontier, 
about twenty miles north of Cracow. Its main forces were still 
eighty miles to the east. About this time Grand Duke Nicholas 
perceived that von Hindenburg was preparing a counter-stroke. 
He had retreated north, and then, by means of his railways, was 
gathering a large army at Thorn. Large reinforcements were 
sent him, some from the western front, giving him a total of about 
eight hundred thousand men. In his retreat from Warsaw, while 
he had destroyed all roads and railways in the south and west, 
he had carefully preserved those of the north already planning to 
use them in another movement. He now was beginning an advance, 
once again, against Warsaw. On account of the roads he per- 
ceived that it would be difiicult for the Russians to obtain rein- 
forcements. Von Hindenburg had with him as Chief of Staff 
General von Ludendorff, one of the cleverest staff oflicers in the 
German army, and General von Mackensen, a commander of 
almost equal repute. 

The Russian army in the north had been pretty well scattered. 
The Russian forces were now holding a front of nearly a thousand 
miles, with about two million men. The Russian right center, 
which now protected Warsaw from the new attack could hardly 
number more than two hundred thousand men. Von Hinden- 
burg' s aim was Warsaw only, and did not affect directly the Russian 
advance to Cracow, which was still going on. Indeed, by the end 
of the first week in December, General Dmitrieff had cavalry in 
the suburbs of Cracow, and his main force was on the line of the 
River Rava about twelve miles away. Cracow had been strongly 
fortified, and much entrenching had been done in a wide circle 
around the city. 

The German plan was to use its field army in Cracow's defense 
rather than a garrison. Two separate forces were used; oiie mov- 
ing southwest of Cracow along the Carpathian hills, struck directly 
at Ivanov's left; the other, operating from Hungary, threatened 




© Press Illustrating Service. 

THE FAMOUS WITHERED ARM 

A most unusual photograph of the ex-Kaiser ehowmg hia withered left 
arm. The sale of this picture was forbidden in Germany. The other figure is 
the Hetman of the Ukrainia Skoropadski. 



ifff^'^T^v^^ s -.-• rrx^tp 





THE FIRST STAGE HOMEWARDS 

Stretcher bearers bringing in wounded from the battlefield to the 
collecting posts. 



ii 




> ■ ' ■ ■ " '■■■A 


p 


■'■"*".■ '■"'.fe/ilf-'^'^Si '> '■ ■..> ' ': 


.-, . ' ■.'. * (■ ^ 





GERMAN FRIGHTFULNESS FROM THE AIR 

A gas attack on the eastern front photographed by a Russian airman. 



THE RUSSIAN CAMPAIGN 333 

the Russian rear. These two divisions struck at the same time 
and the Russians found it necessary to fight rear actions as they 
moved forward. They were doing this with reasonable success 
and working their way toward Cracow, when, on the 12th of 
December, the Austrian forces working from Hungary carried the 
Dukla Pass. This meant that the Austrians would be able to pour 
troops down into the rear of the Russian advance, and the Russian 
army would be cut off. Dmitrieff, therefore, fell rapidly back, 
until the opening of the Dukla Pass was in front of his line, and 
the Russian army was once more safe. 

Meanwhile the renewed siege of Przemysl was going on with 
great vigor, and attracting the general attention of the Allied 
world. The Austrians attempted to follow up their successes at 
the Dukla Pass by attempting to seize the Lupkow Pass, and the 
Uzzok Pass, still further to the east, but the Russians were tired 
of retreating. New troops had arrived, and about the 20th of 
December a new advance was begun. 

With the right of the army swinging up along the river Nida, 
northeast of Cracow, the Russian left attacked the Dukla Pass 
in great force, driving Austrians back and capturing over ten 
thousand men. On Christmas Day all three great western passes 
were in Russian hands. The Austrian fighting, during this period, 
was the best they had so far shown, the brunt of it being upon the 
Hungarian troops, who, at this time, were saving Germany. 

Meantime von Hindenburg was pursuing his movement in 
the direction of Warsaw. The Russian generals found it difficult 
to obtain information. Each day came the chronicle of contests, 
some victories, some defeats, and it soon appeared that a strong 
force was crushing in the Russian outposts from the direction of 
Thorn and moving toward Warsaw. Ruzsky found himself faced 
by a superior German force, and was compelled to retreat. The 
Russian aim was to fall back behind the river Bzura, which lies 
between the Thorn and Warsaw. Bzura is a strong line of defense, 
with many fords but no bridges. The Russian right wing passed 
by the city of Lowicz, moved southwest to Strykov and then on 
past Lodz. West of Lowicz is a great belt of marshes impossible 
for the movement of armies. 

The first German objective was the city of Lodz. Von Hinden- 
burg knew that he must move quickly before the Russians should 



334 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR 

get up reserves. His campaign of destruction had made it impos- 
sible for aid to be sent to the Russian armies from Ivanov, far in 
the south, but every moment counted. His right pushed forward 
and won the western crossings of the marshes. His extreme left 
moved towards Plock, but the main effort was against Piontek, 
v/here there is a famous causeway engineered for heavy transport 
through the marshes. 

At first the Russians repelled the attack on the causeway, 
but on November 19th the Russians broke and were compelled 
to fail back. Over the causeway, then, the German troops were 
rushed in great numbers, splitting the Russian army into two parts; 
one on the south surrounding Lodz, and the other running east 
of Brezin on to the Vistula. The Russian army around Lodz 
was assailed on the front flank and rear. It looked Hke an over- 
whelming defeat for the Russian army. At the very last moment 
possible, Russian reinforcements appeared — a body of Siberians 
from the direction of Warsaw. They were thrown at once into 
the battle and succeeded in re-establishing the Russian Hne. This 
left about ninety thousand Germans almost entirely surrounded, 
as if they were in a huge sack. Ruzsky tried his best to close the 
mouth of the sack, but he was unsuccessful. The fighting was 
terrific, but by the 26th the Germans in the sack had escaped. 

The Germans were continually receiving reinforcements and 
still largely outnumbered the Russians. Von Hindenburg there- 
fore determined on a new assault. The German left wing was now 
far in front of the Russian city of Lodz, one of the most important 
of the PoHsh cities. The population was about half a million. 
Such a place was a constant danger, for it M^as the foundation of a 
Russian saUent. When the German movement began the Russian 
general, perceiving how difficult it would have been to hold the 
city, deliberately withdrew, and on December 6th the Germans 
entered Lodz without opposition. 

The retreat relieved the Russians of a great embarrassment. 
Its capture was considered in Germany as a great German victory, 
and at this time von Hindenbm-g seems to have felt that he had 
control of the situation. His movement, to be sure, had not inter- 
fered with the Russian advance on Cracow, but Warsaw must 
fiave seemed to him almost in his power. He therefore concen- 
trated his forces for a blow at Warsaw. His first new movement 



THE RUSSIAN CAMPAIGN 3So 

was directed at the Russian right wing, wliich was then north 
of the Bzura River and east of Lowicz. He also directed the 
German forces in East Prussia to advance and attempted to cut 
the mam railv/ay Hne between Warsaw and Petrograd. If this 
attempt had been successful it would have been a highly serious 
matter for the Russians. The Russians, however, defeated it, 
and drove the enemy back to the East Prussian border. The 
movement against the Russian right wing was more successful, 
and the Russians fell back slowly. This was not because they 
were defeated in battle, but because the difficult weather inter- 
fered with communications. There had been a thaw, and the whole 
coimtry was waterlogged. The Grand Duke was wilHng that the 
Germans should fight in the mud. 

This slow retreat continued from the 7th of December to 
Christmas Eve, and involved the surrender of a number of Pohsh 
to^^Tis, but it left the Russians in a strong position. They were 
able to entrench themselves so that every attack of the enemy 
was broken. The Germans tried hard. Von Hindenbm-g would 
have liked to enter Warsaw on Christmas. The citizens heard 
day and night the sound of the cannon, but they were entirely 
safe. 

The German attack was a failm'e. On the whole, the Grand 
Duke Nicholas had shown better strategy than the best of the 
German generals. Outnumbered from the very start, his tactics 
had been admirable. Twice he had saved Vv^arsaw, and he was 
still thi'eatening Cracow. The Russian armies were fighting with 
courage and efficiency, and were continually growing in numbers 
as the days went by. 

During the first weeks of 1915, while there were a number of 
attacks and counter-attacks, both armies had come to the trench 
warfare, so famiUar in France. The Germans in particular had 
constructed a most elaborate trench system, with underground 
rooms contauiing many of the ordinary comforts of life. Toward 
the end of the month the Russians began to move in East Prussia 
in the north and also far south in the Bukovina. The object of 
these movements was probably to prevent von Hindenburg from 
releasing forces on the west. Russia was still terribly weak in 
equipment and was not ready for a serious advance. An attack 
on sacred East Prussia would stir up the Germans, while Hungary 



336 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR 

would be likewise disturbed by the advance on Bukovina. "Von 
Hindenburg, however, was still full of the idea of capturing Warsaw. 
He had failed twice but the old Field Marshal was stubborn and 
moreover he knew well what the capture of Warsaw would mean 
to Russia, and so he tried again. 

The Russian front now followed the west bank of the Bzura 
for a few miles, changed to the eastern bank following the river 
until it met with the Rawka, from there a line of trenches passed 
south and east of Balinov and from there to Skiernievice. Von 
Mackensen concentrated a considerable army at BaUnov and had 
on the 1st of February about a hundred and forty thousand men 
there. That night, with the usual artillery preparation, he moved 
from Balinov against the Russian position at the Borzymov Crest. 
The Germans lost heavily but drove forward into the enemy's 
line, and by the 3d of February had almost made a breach in it. 
This point, however, could be readily reinforced and troops were 
hurried there from Warsaw in such force that on February 4th 
the German advance was checked. Von Mackensen had lost 
heavily, and by the time it was checked he had become so weak 
that his forces yielded quickly to the counter-attack and were 
flung back. 

This was the last frontal attack upon Warsaw. Von Hinden- 
burg then determined to attack Warsaw by indirection. Austria 
was instructed to move forward along the whole Carpathian front, 
while he himself, with strong forces, undertook to move from East 
Prussia behind the Pohsh capital, and cut the communications 
between Warsaw and Petrograd. If Austria could succeed, 
Przemysl might be reheved, Lemberg recaptured, and Russia 
forced back so far on the south that Warsaw would have to be 
abandoned. On the other hand if the East Prussia effort were 
successful, the Pohsh capital would certainly fall. These plans, 
if they had developed successfully, would have crippled the power 
of Russia for at least six months. Meantime, troops could be sent 
to the west front, and perhaps enable Germany to overwhelm 
France. By this time almost all of Poland west of the Vistula 
was in the power of the Germans, while three-fourths of Galicia 
was controlled by Russia. 

Von Hindenburg now returned to his old battle-ground near 
the Masurian Lakes. The Russian forces, which, at the end of 



THE RUSSIAN CAMPAIGN 337 

January, had made a forward movement in East Prussia, had been 
quite successful. Their right was close upon Tilsit, and their left 
rested upon the town of Johannisburg. Further south was the 
Russian army of the Narev. Von Hindenburg determined to 
surprise the invaders, and he gathered an army of about three 
hundred thousand men to face the Russian forces which did not 
number more than a hundred and twenty thousand, and which 
were under the command of General Baron Sievers. The Russian 
army soon found itself in a desperate position. A series of bitter 
fights ensued, at some of which the Kaiser himseK was present. 
The Russians were driven steadily back for a week, but the German 
stories of their tremendous losses are obviously unfounded. They 
retreated steadily until February 20th, fighting courageously, and 
by that date the Germans began to find themselves exhausted. 

Russian reinforcements came up, and a counter-attack was 
begun. The German aim had evidently been to reach Grodno 
and cut the main line from Warsaw to Petrograd, which passes 
through that city. They had now reached Suwalki, a Httle north 
of Grodno, but were unable to advance further, though the Warsaw- 
Petrograd railway was barely ten miles away. The southern por- 
tion of von Hindenburg's army was moving against the railway 
further west, in the direction of Ossowietz. But Ossowietz put 
up a determined resistance, and the attack was unsuccessful. 
By the beginning of March, von Hindenburg ordered a gradual 
retreat to the East Prussian frontier. 

While this movement to drive the Russians from East Prussia 
was under way, von Hindenburg had also launched an attack 
against the Russian army on the Narev. If he could force the 
lower Narev from that point, too, he could cut the railroad running 
east from the Pohsh capital. He had hoped that the attacks just 
described further east would distract the Russian attention so that 
he would find the Narev ill guarded. The advance began on 
February 22d, and after numerous battles captiu^ed Przasnysz, 
and found itself with only one division to oppose its progress to the 
railroad. On the 23d this force was attacked by the German right, 
but resisted with the utmost courage. It held out for more than 
thirty-six hours, until, on the evening of the 24th, Russian reinforce- 
ments began to come up, and drove the invaders north through 
Przasnysz in retreat. 



338 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR 

It was an extraordinarj^ fight. The Russians were unable 
to supply all their troops with munitions and arms. At Przasnysz 
men fought without rifles, armed only with a bayonet. All they 
could do was to charge with cold steel, and they did it so desperately 
that, though they were outnumbered,j^they drove the Germans 
before them. By all the laws of war the Russians should have been 
defeated with ease. As it was, the German attempt to capture 
Warsaw by a flank movement was defeated. While the struggle 
was going on in the north, the Austrian armies in Galicia were also 
moving. Russia was stiU holding the three great passes in the 
Carpathian Mountains, but had not been able to begin an offensive 
in Hungary. 

The Austrians had been largely reinforced by German troops, 
and were moving forward to the rehef of Przemysl, and also to 
drive Brussilov from the Galician mountains. Brussilov's move- 
ments had been partly military and partly political. From the 
passes in those mountains Hungary could be attacked, and unless 
he could be driven away there was no security for the Hungarian 
cornfields, to which Germany was looking for food supplies. More- 
over, from the beginning of the Russian movement in Galicia, 
northern Bukovina had been in Russian hands. Bukovina was 
not only a great supply ground for petrol and grain, but she adjoined 
Roumania which, while still neutral, had a strong sympathy with 
the AlHes, especially Italy. The presence of a Russian army on 
her border might encourage her to join the Allies. Austria naturally 
desired to free Roumania from this pressure. The leading Austrian 
statesmen, at this time, were especially interested in Hungary. 
The Austrian Minister of Foreign Affairs was Baron Stephen 
Burian, the Hungarian diplomatist, belonging to the party of the 
Hungarian Premier, Count Tisza. It was his own country that was 
threatened. The prizes of a victorious campaign were therefore 
great. 

The campaign began in January amid the deepest snow, and 
continued during February in the midst of blizzards. The Austrians 
were divided into three separate armies. The first was charged 
with the relief of Przemysl. The second advanced in the direction 
of Lemberg, and the third moved upon Bukovina. The first made 
very little progress, after a number of lively battles. It was held 
pretty safely by Brussilov. The second army was checked by 



THE RUSSIAN CAMPAIGN 339 

Dmitrieff. Further east, however, the army of the Bukovina 
crossed the Carpathian range, and made considerable advances. 
This campaign was fought out in a great number of battles, the 
most serious of which, perhaps, was the battle of Koziowa. At 
that point Brussilov's center withstood for several days the Austrian 
second army which was commanded by the German General von 
Linsengen. The Russian success here saved Lemberg, prevented 
the rehef of Przemysl and gave time to send reinforcements into 
Bukovina. 

The Austrian third army, moving on Bukovina, had the 
greatest Austrian success. They captured in succession Czerno- 
witz, Kolomea, and Stanislau. They did not succeed, however, 
in driving the Russians from the province. The Russians retired 
slowly, waiting for reinforcements. These reinforcements came, 
whereupon the Austrians were pushed steadily back. The passes 
in the Carpathians still remained in Austrian hands, but Przemysl 
was not relieved or Lemberg recaptured. On March 22d Przemysl 
fell. 

The capture of Przemysl was the greatest success that Russia 
had so far attained. It had been besieged for about four months, 
and the taking of the fortress was hailed as the first spectacular 
success of the war. Its capture altered the whole situation. It 
released a large Russian army, which was sent to reinforce the 
armies of Ivanov, where the Austrians were vigorously attacked. 

By the end of March the Russians had captured the last 
Austrian position on the Lupkow pass and were attacking vigor- 
ously the pass of Uzzok, which maintained a stubborn defense. 
Brussilov tried to push his way to the rear of the Uzzok position, 
and though the Austrians delivered a vigorous counter-attack 
they were ultimately defeated. In five weeks of fighting Ivanov 
captured over seventy thousand prisoners. \ 

During this period there was considerable activity in East 
Prussia, and the Courland coast was bombarded by the German 
Baltic squadron. There was every indication that Austria was 
near collapse, but all the time the Germans were preparing for a 
mighty effort, and the secret was kept with extraordinary success. 
The little conflicts in the Carpathians and in East Prussia were 
meant to deceive, while a great army, with an enormous number 
of guns of every caliber, and masses of ammunition, were being 



340 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR 

gathered. The Russian conmianders were completely deceived. 
There had been no change in the generals in conmiand except that 
General Ruzsky, on account of illness, was succeeded by General 
Alexeiev. The new German army was put under the charge of 
von Hindenburg's former Heutenant, General von Mackensen. 
This was probably the strongest army that Germany ever gathered, 
and could not have numbered less than two milHons of men, with 
nearly two thousand pieces in its heavy batteries. 

On April 28th, the action began. The Austro-German army 
lay along the left bank of the Donajetz River to its junction with 
the Biala, and along the Biala to the Carpathian Mountains. Von 
Mackensen's right moved in the direction of Gorhce. General 
Dmitrieff was compelled to weaken his front to protect Gorhce 
and then, on Saturday, the 1st of May, the great attack began. 
Under cover of artillery fire such as had never been seen before 
bridges were pushed across the Biala and Ciezkowice was taken. 
The Russian positions were blown out of existence. The Russian 
armies did what they could but their defense collapsed and they 
were soon in full retreat. 

The German armies advanced steadily, and though the Russians 
made a brave stand at many places they could do nothing. On 
the Wisloka they hung on for five days, but they were attempting 
an impossibihty. From that time on each day marked a new 
German victory, and in spite of the most desperate fighting the 
Russians were forced back until, on the^llth, the bulk of then- hne 
lay just west of the lower San as far as Przemysl and then south 
to the upper Dniester. The armies were in retreat, but were not 
routed. In a fortnight the army of Dmitrieff had fallen back 
eighty-five miles. 

The Grand Duke Nicholas by this time understood the situa- 
tion. He perceived that it was impossible to make a stand. The 
only thing to do was to retreat steadily until Germany's mass of 
war material should be used up, even though miles of territory 
should be sacrificed. It should be a retreat in close contact with 
the enemy, so that the Austro-German troops would have to fight 
for every mile. This meant a retreat not for days, but perhaps 
for weeks. It meant that Przemysl must be given up, and Lemberg, 
and even Warsaw, but the safety of the Russian army was of more 
importance than a province or a city. 



THE RUSSIAN CAMPAIGN 341 

On May 13th the German War Office announced their suc- 
cesses m the following terms: "The army under General von 
Mackensen in the course of its pursuit of the Russians reached 
yesterday the neighborhood of Subiecko, on the lower Wisloka, 
and Kolbuezowa, northeast of Debica. Under the pressure of 
this advance the Russians also retreated from their positions 
north of the Vistula. In this section the troops under General 
von Woyrach, closely following the enemy, penetrated as far as 
the region northwest of Kielce. In the Carpathians Austro- 
Hungarian and German troops under General von Linsingen 
conquered the hills east of the Upper Stryi, and took 3,660 men 
prisoners, as well as capturing six machine guns. At the present 
moment, while the armies under General von Mackensen are 
approaching the Przemysl fortresses and the lower San, it is pos- 
sible to form an approximate idea of the booty taken. In the 
battles of Tarno and GorUka, and in the battles during the pursuit 
of these armies, we have so far taken 103,500 Russian prisoners, 
69 cannon, and 255 machine guns. In these figures the booty 
taken by the Allied troops fighting in the Carpathians, and north 
of the Vistula, is not included. This amounts to a further 40,000 
prisoners. Przemysl surrendered to the Germans on June 3, 1915, 
only ten weeks after the Russian capture of the fortress, which 
had caused such exultation." 

General von Mackensen continued toward Lemberg, the capital 
of GaUcia. On June 18th, when the victorious German armies 
were approaching the gates of Lemberg, the Russian losses were 
estimated at 400,000 dead and wounded, and 300,000 prisoners, 
besides 100,000 lost before Marshal von Hindenburg's forces in 
Poland and Courland. On June 23d Lemberg fell. The weak- 
ness of Russia in this campaign arose from the exhaustion of her 
ammunition supphes, butjgreat shipments of such supplies were 
being constantly forwarded from Vladivostok. 

When the German army crossed the San, Wilhelm II, then 
German Emperor, was present. It is interesting to look back 
on the scene. Here is a paragraph from the account of the Wolff 
Telegraphic Bureau: ''The Emperor had hurried forward to his 
troops by automobile. On the waj'' he was greeted with loud 
hurrahs by the wounded, riding back in wagons. On the heights 
of Jaroslav the Emperor met Prince Eitel Friedrich, and then. 



342 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR 

from several points of observation, for hours followed with keen 
attention the progress of the battle for the crossing." 

While the great offensive in Gahcia was well under way, the 
Germans were pushing forward in East Prussia. Finding little 
resistance they ultimately invaded Courland, captured Libau, 
and established themselves firmly in that province. The sweep 
of the victorious German armies through Gahcia was continued 
into Poland. On July 19th WiUiam the War Lord bombastically 
telegraphed his sister, the Queen of Greece, to the effect that he 
had "paralyzed Russia for at least six months to come," and was 
on the eve of "dehvering a coup on the western front that will 
make all Europe tremble." 

It would be futile to recount the details of the various German 
victories which followed the advance into Poland. On July 24th, 
the German hne ran from Novgorod in the north, south of Przasnysz, 
thence to Novogeorgievsk, then swinging to the southeast below 
Warsaw it passed close to the west of Ivangorad, Lubhn, Chelm, 
and then south to a point just east of Lemberg. Warsaw at that 
time was][in the jaws of the German nutcracker. 

On July 21st, the bells in all the churches throughout Russia 
clanged a call to prayer for twenty-four hours' continual service of 
intercession for victory. In spite of the heat the churches were 
packed. Hour after hour the people stood wedged together, while 
the priests and choirs chanted their Utanies. Outside the Kamian 
Cathedral an open-air mass was celebrated in the presence of an 
enormous crowd. But the German victories continued. 

On August 5th Warsaw was abandoned. Up to July 29th 
hope was entertained in mihtary quarters in London and Paris 
that the Germans would stand a siege in their fortresses along the 
Warsaw sahent, but on that date advices came from Petrograd 
that in order to save the Russian armies a retreat must be made, 
and the Warsaw fortresses abandoned. For some time before 
this the Russian resistance had perceptibly stiffened, and many 
vigorous counter-attacks had been made against the German 
advance, but it was the same old story, the lack of ammunition. 
The armies were compelled to retire and await the munitions 
necessary for a new offensive. 

The last days of Russian rule in Warsaw were days of extraor- 
dinary interest. The inhabitants, to the number of nearly half 



THE RUSSIAN CAMPAIGN 343 

a million, sought refuge in Russia. All goods that could be useful 
to the Germans were either removed or burned. Crops were 
destroyed in the surrounding fields. When the Germans entered 
they found an empty and deserted city, with only a few Poles and 
the lowest classes of Jews still left. Warsaw is a famous city, full 
of ancient palaces, tastefully adorned shops, finely built streets, 
and fourscore church towers where the bells are accustomed to 
ring melodiously for matins and vespers. In the TJjazdowske 
Avenue one comes to the most charming building in all Warsaw, 
the Lazienki Palace, with its delicious gardens mirrored in a lovely 
lake. It is a beautiful city. 

The fall of Warsaw meant the fall of Russian Poland, but 
Russia was not yet defeated. Von Hindenbiu-g was to be treated 
as Napoleon was in 1812. The strategy of the Grand Duke was 
sound; so long as he could save the army the victories of Germany 
would be futile. It is true that the German armies were not com- 
pelled, like those of Napoleon, to live on the land. They could 
bring their supplies from Berlin day by day, but every mile they 
advanced into hostile territory made their task harder. The 
German line of communication, as it grew longer, became weaker, 
and the troops needed for garrison duty in the captured towns, 
seriously diminished the strength of the fighting army. The 
Russian retreat was good strategy and it was carried on with most 
extraordinary cleverness. 

It is unnecessary to describe the events which succeeded the 
fall of Warsaw in great detail. There was a constant succession 
of German victories and Russian defeats, but never was one of the 
Russian armies enveloped or destroyed. Back they went, day 
after day, always fighting; each great Russian fortress resisted 
until it saw itself in danger, and then safely withdrew its troops. 
Kovno fell and Novogeorgievsk, and Ivangorad, then Ossowietz 
was abandoned, and Brest-Litovsk and Grodno. 

On September 6th the Emperor of Russia signed the following 
order: 

Today I have taken supreme command of all the forces of the sea 
and land armies operating in the theater of war. With firm faith in the 
clemency of God, with unshakable assurance in final victory, we shall 
fulfil our sacred duty to defend our country to the last. We will not 
dishonor the Russian land. 



344 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR 

The Grand Duke Nicholas was made Viceroy of the Caucasus, 
a post which took him out of the main theater of fighting but gave 
him a great field for fresh military activity. He had been bearing 
a heavy burden, and had shown himself to be a great commander. 
He had outmaneuvered von Hindenburg again and again, and 
though finally the Russian armies under his command had been 
driven back, the retreat itself was a proof of his mihtary abiHty, 
not only in its conception, but in the way in which it was done. 

The Emperor chose General Alexieff as his Chief of General 
Staff. He was the ablest of the great generals who had been lead- 
ing the Russian army. "With this change in command a new spirit 
seemed to come over Russia. The German advance, however, 
was not yet completely checked. It was approaching Vilna. 

The fighting around Vilna was the bitterest in the whole 
long retreat. On the 18th of September it fell, but the Russian 
troops were safely removed and the Russian resistance had become 
strong. Munitions were pouring into the new Russian army. 
The news from the battle-front began to show improvement. On 
September 8th General Brussilov, further in the south, had attacked 
the Germans in front of Tarnopol, and defeated them with heavy 
loss. More than seventeen thousand men were captured with 
much artillery. Soon the news came of other advances. Dubno 
was retaken and Lutsk. 

The end of September saw the German advance definitely 
checked. The Russian forces were now extended in a line from 
Riga on the north, along the river Dvina, down to Dvinsk. Then 
turning to the east along the river, it again turned south and so 
on down east of the Pripet Marshes, it followed an almost straight 
line to the southern frontier. Its two strongest points were Riga, 
on the Gulf of Riga, which lay under the protection of the guns 
of the fleet, and Dvinsk, through which ran the great Petrograd 
Railway line. Against these two points von Hindenburg directed 
his attack. And now, for the first time in many months, he met 
with complete failure. The German fleet attempted to assist him 
on the Gulf of Riga, but was defeated by the Russian Baltic fleet 
with heavy losses. A bombardment turned out a failure and the 
German armies were compelled to retire. 

A more serious effort was made against Dvinsk but was equally 
unsuccessful and the German losses v^^ere immense. Again and 



THE RUSSIAN CAMPAIGN 



345 




tiai/trayt 
■Canalt 



THE GERMAN ATTACK ON THE ROAD TO PETROGRAD 



346 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR 

again the attempt was made to cross the Dvina River, but without 
success; the German invasion was definitely stopped. By the 
end of October there was complete stagnation in the northern 
sector of the battle line, and though in November there were a 
nmnber of battles, nothing happened of great importance. 

During the year 1916 the Russian armies seemed to have 
had a new birth. At last they were supplied with guns and muni- 
tions. They waited until they were ready. In March a series 
of battles was fought in the neighborhood of Lake Narotch, and 
eight successive attacks were made against the German army, 
intrenched between Lake Narotch and Lake Vischenebski. The 
Germans at first were driven back and badly defeated. Later on, 
however, the Russian artillery was sent to another section, and 
the Germans were able to recover their position. During Jime the 
Russians attacked all along the southern part of their line. In 
three weeks they had regained a whole province. Lutsk and 
Dubno had been retaken; two hundred thousand men and hun- 
dreds of guns, had been captured, and the Austrian line had been 
pierced and shattered. Further south the German army had been 
compelled to retreat, and the Russian armies were in Bukovina 
and Galicia. On the 10th of August Stanislau fell. 

By this time two Austrian armies had been shattered, over 
three hundred and fifty thousand prisoners taken, and nearly 
a million men put out of action. Germany, however, was sending 
reinforcements as fast as possible, and putting up a desperate 
defense. Nevertheless everything was encouraging for Russia 
and she entered upon the winter in a very different condition from 
her condition in the previous year. Then she had just ended her 
great retreat. Now she had behind her a series of successes. But 
a new difficulty had arisen in the loss of the political harmony at 
home which had marked the first years of the war. Dark days 
were ahead. 



ii 



CHAPTER XXIII 
How THE Balkans Decided 

FOR more than half a century the Balkans have presented a 
problem which has disturbed the minds of the statesmen 
of Europe. Again and again, during that period, it has 
seemed that in the Balkan mountains might be kindled a 
blaze which might set the world afire. Balkan politics is a labyrinth 
in which one might easily be lost. The inhabitants of the Balkans 
represent many races, each with its own ambition, and, for the 
most part, mihtary. There were Serbs, and Bulgarians, and Turks, 
and Roumanians, and Greeks, and their territorial divisions did 
not correspond to their nationalities. The land was largely moun- 
tainous, with great gaps that make it, in a sense, the highway of 
the world. From 1466 to 1878 the Balkans was in the dominion of 
the Tiu-ks. In the early days, while the Turks were warring 
against Hungary, their armies marched through the Balkan hills. 
The natives kept apart, and preserved their language, religion and 
customs. 

In the nineteenth century, as the Turks grew weaker, their 
subject people began to seek independence. Greece came first, 
and, in 1829, aided by France, Russia and Great Britain, she became 
an independent kingdom. Serbia revolted in 1804, and by 1820 
was an autonomous state, though still tributary to Turkey. In 
1859, Roumania became autonomous. The rising of Bulgaria in 
1876, however, was really the beginning of the succession of 
events which ultimately led to the World War of 1914-18. The 
Bulgarian insurrection was crushed by the Turks in such a way as 
to stir the indignation of the whole world. What are known as 
the "Bulgarian Atrocities" seem mild today, but they led to the 
Russo-Turkish War m 1877. 

The treaty of Berlin, by which that war was settled in 1878, 
was one of those treaties which could only lead to trouble. It 
deprived Russia of much of the benefit of her victory, and left 
nearly every racial question unsettled. Roumania lost Bessarabia, 

347 



348 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR 

which was mainly inhabited by Roumanians. Bosnia and 
Herzegovina were handed over to the administration of Austria. 
Turkey was allowed to retain Macedonia, Albania and Thrace. 
Serbia was given Nish, but had no outlet to the sea. Greece 
obtained Thessaly, and a new province w^as made of the country 
south of the Balkans called Eastern Rumelia. From that time 
on, quarrel after quarrel made up the history of the Balkan peoples, 
each of whom sought the assistance and support of some one of 
the great powers. Russia and Austria were constantly intriguing 
with the new states, in the hope of extending their own domains 
in the direction of Constantinople. 

The history of Bulgaria shows that that nation has been con- 
tinually the center of these intrigues. In 1879 they elected as 
their sovereign Prince Alexander of Battenburg, whose career 
might almost be called romantic. A splendid soldier and an accom- 
pHshed gentleman, he stands out as an interesting figure in the sordid 
poUtics of the Balkans. He identified himself with his new country. 
In 1885 he brought about a union with Eastern Rumelia, which 
led to a disagreement with Russia. 

Serbia, doubtless at Russian instigation, suddenly declared 
war, but was overwhelmed by Prince Alexander in short order. 
Russia then abducted Prince Alexander, but later was forced to 
restore him. However, Russian intrigues, and his failure to obtain 
support from one of the great powers, forced his abdication in 1886. 

In 1887 Prince Ferdinand of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha became the 
Prince of Bulgaria. He, also, was a remarkable man, but not the 
romantic figure of his predecessor. He seems to have been a sort of 
a parody of a king. He was fond of ostentation, and full of ambi- 
tion. He was a personal coward, but extremely cunning. During 
his long reign he built up Bulgaria into a powerful, independent 
kingdom, and even assumed the title of Czar of Bulgaria. During 
the first days of his reign he was kept safely on the throne by his 
mother, the Princess Clementine, a daughter of Louis Phillippe, who, 
according to Gladstone, was the cleverest woman in Europe, and 
for a few years Bulgaria was at peace. In 1908 he declared Bulgaria 
independent, and its independence was recognized by Turkey on 
the payment of an indemnity. During this period Russia was the 
protector of Bulgaria, but the Bulgarian fox was looking also for 
the aid of Austria. Serbia more and more relied upon Russia. 




Photo by International Film Service. 

TRANSPORTING WOUNDED AMID THE DIFFICULTIES OF THE 
ITALIAN MOUNTAIN FRONT 

The isolated mountain positions were only accessible to the bases of opera- 
tions by these aerial cable cars. This picture, taken during the Austrian retreat, 
shows a wounded soldier being taken down the mountain oy this means. 




Underwood and Underwood, N. Y. British Official Photo 

THE NERVE-SYSTEM OF THE FIGHTING ARMIES 

What the nerves are to the human body the signal system was to the armies, 
transmitting warnings of danger from the outposts to a central brain, and flashing 
back the thms; 1o be done to meet it. 



HOW THE BALKANS DECIDED 351 

The Austrian treatment of the Slavs was a source of constant 
irritation to Serbia. Roumania had a divided feeling. Her loss 
of Bessarabia to Russia had caused ill feehng, but in Austria's 
province of Transylvania there were millions of Roumanians, 
whom Roumania desired to bring under her rule. Greece was 
fearful of Russia, because of Russia's desire for the control of 
Constantinople. All of these nations, too, were deeply conscious 
of the Austro-German ambitions for extension of their power 
through to the East. Each of these principaUties was also jealous 
of the other. Bulgaria and Serbia had been at war; many Bul- 
garians were in the Roumanian territory, many Serbians, Bulgarians 
and Greeks in Macedonia. There was only one tie in common, 
that was their hatred of Turkey. In 1912 a league waa formed, 
under the direction of the Greek statesman, Venizelos, having for 
its object an attack on Turkey. By secret treaties arrangements 
were made for the division of the land, which they hoped to obtain 
from Turkey. 

War was declared, and Turkey was decisively defeated, and 
then the trouble began. Serbia and Bulgaria had been particularly 
anxious for an outlet to the sea, and in the treaty between them 
it had been arranged that Serbia should have an outlet on the 
Adriatic, while Bulgaria was to obtain an outlet on the ^Egean. 
The Triple Alliance positively refused Serbia its share of the 
Adriatic coast. Serbia insisted, therefore, on a revision of the 
treaty, which would enable her to have a seaport on the iEgean. 

An attempt was made to settle the question by arbitration, 
but King Ferdinand refused, whereupon, in July, 1913, the Second 
Balkan War began. Bulgaria was attacked by Greece and Serbia, 
and Turkey took a chance and regained Adrianople, and even 
Roumania, which had been neutral in the First Baltic War, mobil- 
ized her armies and marched toward Sofia. Bulgaria surrendered, 
and on the 10th of August the Treaty of Bucharest was signed by 
the Balkan States. 

As a result of this Bulgaria was left in a thoroughly dissatisfied 
state of mind. She had been the leader in the war against Turkey, 
she had suffered heavy losses, and she had gained almost nothing. 
Moreover she had lost to Roumania a territory containing a 
quarter of a million Bulgarians, and a splendid harbor on the Black 
Sea. Serbia and Greece were the big winners. Such a treaty 



352 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR 

could not be a final settlement. The Balkans were left seething 
with unrest. Serbia, though she had gained much, was still dis- 
satisfied. Her ambitions, however, now turned in the direction 
of the Jugoslavs imder the rule of Austria, and it was her agitation 
in this matter which directly brought on the Great War. But 
Bulgaria was sullen and ready for revenge. When the Great War 
began, therefore, Roumania, Serbia, Montenegro and Greece were 
strongly in sympathy with Russia, who had been their backer and 
friend. Bulgaria, in spite of all she owed to Russia in the early 
days, was now ready to find protection from an alliance with the 
Central Powers. Her feeling was well known to the Allies, and 
every effort was made to obtain her friendship and, if possible, 
her aid. 

Viviani, then Premier of France, in an address before the 
French Chamber of Deputies, said: 

% The Balkan question was raised at the outset of the war, even before 
it came to the attention of the world. The Bucharest Treaty had left in 
Bulgaria profound heartburnings. Neither King nor people were resigned 
to the loss of the fruits of their efforts and sacrifices, and to the conse- 
quences of the unjustifiable war they had waged upon their former allies. 
From the first day, the Allied governments took into account the dangers 
of such a situation, and sought a means to remedy it. Their poKcy has 
proceeded in a spirit of justice and generosity which has characterized 
the attitude of Great Britain, Russia and Italy as well as France. We 
have attempted to re-establish the union of the Baltic peoples, and in 
accord with them seek the realization of their principal national aspira- 
tions. The equilibrium thus obtained by mutual sacrifices really made by 
each would have been the best guarantee of future peace. Despite con- 
stant efforts in which Roumania, Greece and Serbia lent their assistance, 
we have been unable to obtain the sincere collaboration of the Bulgarian 
Government. The difficulties respecting the negotiations were always at 

Sofia. -;• .:';i5*fe;., . r:,c^_ . 

" At the beginning of the war it appears, therefore, that Bul- 
garia was entering into negotiations with the Allies, hoping to regain 
in this way, some of the territory she had lost in the Second Baltic 
War. Many of her leading statesmen and most distinguished gen- 
erals favored the cause of Russia, but in May came the great 
German advance in GaUcia, and the AlUes' stalemate in the 
Dardanelles, and the king, and his supporters, found the way 
clear for a movement in favor of Germany. Still protesting 
neutraUty they signed a secret treaty with Berlin, Vienna and 



HOW THE BALKANS DECIDED 353 

Constantinople on July 17th. The Central Powers had promised 
them not only what they had been asking, in Macedonia, but also 
the Greek territory of Epirus. This treaty was concealed from 
those Bulgarian leaders who still held to Russia, and on the 6th of 
October Bulgaria formally entered into war on the side of Germany, 
and began an attack on Serbia. 

The full account of the intrigue which led to this action has 
never been told. It is not improbable that King Ferdinand him- 
self never had any other idea than to act as he did, but he dis- 
sembled for a long time. He set forth his claims in detail to the 
Alhes, who used every effort to induce Roumania, Greece and 
Serbia to make the concessions that would be necessary. Such 
concessions were made, but not until it was too late. In a tele- 
gram from Milan dated September 24th, an account is given of 
an interview between Czar Ferdinand and a committee from those 
Bulgarians who were opposed to the King's policy. 

''Mind your own head. I shall mind mine!" are the words 
which the King spoke to M. Stambulivski when he received the 
five opposition members who had come to warn him of the danger 
to which he was exposing himself and the nation. 

The five members were received by the King in the red room 
at the Royal Palace and chairs had been placed for them around a 
big table. The 'King entered the room, accompanied by Prince 
Boris, the heir apparent, and his secretary, M. Boocovitch. 

"Be seated, gentlemen," said the King, as he sat down him- 
self, as if for a very quiet talk. His secretary took a seat at the 
table, a little apart to take notes, but the conversation immediately 
became so heated and rapid that he was unable to write it down. 

The first to speak was M. Malinoff, leader of the Democratic 
party, who said: "The policy adopted by the government is one 
of adventure, tending to throw Bulgaria into the arms of Germany, 
and driving her to attack Serbia. This policy is contrary to the 
aspirations, feeling and interests of the country, and if the govern- 
ment obstinately continues in this way it will provoke disturbances 
of the greatest gravity." It was the first allusion to the possi- 
bility of a revolution, but the King Hstened without flinching. 
M. Malinoff concluded: "For these reasons we beg your Majesty, 
after having vainly asked the government, to convoke the Chamber 
immediately, and we ask this convocation for the precise object of 



354 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR 

saving the country from dangerous adventures by the formation 
of a coalition Ministry." 

The King remained silent, and, with a nod, invited M. Stam- 
bulivski to speak. M. StambuUvski was a leader of the Agrarian 
party, a man of sturdy, rustic appearance, accustomed to speak 
out his mind boldly, and exceedingly popular among the peasant 
population. He grew up himself as a peasant, and wore the labor- 
er's blouse up till very recently. He stood up and looking the King 
straight in the face said in resolute tones: "In the name of every 
farmer in Bulgaria I add to what M. Mahnoff has just said, that 
the Bulgarian people hold you personally responsible more than 
your government, for the disastrous adventure of 1913. If a 
similar adventure were to be repeated now its gravity this time 
would be irreparable. The responsibihty would once more fall 
on your policy, which is contrary to the welfare of our country, 
and the nation would not hesitate to call you personally to account. 
That there may be no mistake as to the real wishes of the coimtry 
I present to your Majesty my country's demand in writing." 

He handed the King a letter containing the resolution voted 
by the Agrarians. The King read it and then turned to M. Zanoff, 
leader of the Radical Democrats, and asked him to speak. M. 
Zanoff did so, speaking very slowly and impressively, and also 
looking the King straight in the face: "Sire, I had sworn never 
again to set foot inside your palace, and if I come today it is 
because the interests of my country are above personal questions, 
and have compelled me. Your Majesty may read what I have to 
say in this letter, which I submit to you in behalf of our party." 

He handed the letter and the King read it and still remained 
silent. Then he said, turning to his former Prime Minister and 
ablest politician: "Gueshoff, it is now your turn to speak." 

M. Gueshoff got up and said: "I also am fully in accord with 
what M. Stambulivski has just said. No matter how severe his 
words may have been in their simple unpoHshed frankness, which 
ignores the ordinary formahties of etiquette, they entirely express 
our unanimous opinion. We all, as representing the opposition, 
consider the present policy of the government contrary to the 
sentiments and interests of the country, because by driving it to 
make common cause with Germany it makes us the enemies of 
Russia, which was our deliverer, and the adventure into which we 



HOW THE BALKANS DECIDED 355 

are thus thrown compromises our future. We disapprove most 
absolutely of such a policy, and we also ask that the Chamber be 
convoked, and a Ministry formed with the co-operation of all 
parties." 

After M. Gueshoff, the former Premier, M. Daneff, also spoke, 
and associated himself with what had already been said. 

The King remained still silent for a while, then he, also, stood 
up and said: "Gentlemen, I have Ustened to yoiu* threats, and 
will refer them to the President of the Council of Ministers, that 
he may know and decide what to do." 

All present bowed, and a chilly silence followed. The Bang 
had evidently taken the frank warning given him as a threat to him 
personally, and he walked up and down nervously for a while. 
Prince Boris turned aside to talk with the Secretary, who had 
resumed taking notes. The King continued pacing to and fro, 
evidently very nettled. Then, approaching M. Zanoff, and as if 
to change the conversation, he asked him for news about this 
season's harvest. 

M. Zanoff abruptly replied: "Yoiu* Majesty knows that we 
have not come here to talk about the harvest, but of something 
far more important at present, namely, the policy of your govern- 
ment, which is on the point of ruining our country. We can on 
no account approve the pohcy that is anti-Russian. If the Crown 
and M. Radoslavoff persist in their policy we shall not answer for 
the consequences. We have not desired to seek out those responsi- 
ble for the disaster of 1913, because other grave events have been 
precipitated. But it was a disaster due to criminal folly. It 
must not be repeated by an attack on Serbia by Bulgaria, as seems 
contemplated by M. Badoslavoff, and which according to all 
appearances, has the approval of your Majesty. It would be a 
premeditated crime, and deserve to be punished." 

The King hesitated a moment, and then held out his hand to 
M. Zanoff, saying: "All right. At all events I thank you for your 
frankness." Then, approaching M. StambuUvski, he repeated to 
him his question about the harvest. 

M. StambuHviski, as a simple peasant, at first allowed himself 
to be led into a discussion of this secondary matter, and had 
expressed the hope that the prohibition on the export of cereals 
would be removed, when he suddenly remembered, and said: 



356 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR 

''But this is not the moment to speak of these things. I again 
repeat to your Majesty that the country does not want a policy 
of adventure which cost it so dear in 1913. It was your own 
policy too. Before 1913 we thought you were a great diplomatist, 
but since then we have seen what fruits your diplomacy bears. 
You took advantage of all the loopholes in the Constitution to 
direct the country according to your own views. Your ministers 
are nothing. You alone are the author of this policy and you will 
have to bear the responsibihty." 

The King repUed frigidly, "The policy which I have decided 
to follow is that which I consider the best for the welfare of the 
country." 

"It is a policy which will only bring misfortune," replied the 
sturdy Agrarian. "It will lead to fresh catastrophes, and com- 
promise not only the future of our country, but that of your 
dynasty, and may cost you your head." 

It was as bold a saying as ever was uttered before a King, and 
Ferdinand looked astonished at the peasant who was thus speak- 
ing to him. He said, "Do not mind my head; it is already old. 
Rather mind yom* own!" he added with a disdainful smile, and 
turned away. 

M. StambuHvski retorted: "My head matters little, Sire. 
What matters more is the good of our country." 

The King paid no more attention to him, and took M. Gueshoff 
and M. Danoff apart, who again insisted on convoking the Chamber, 
and assured him that M. Radoslavoff's government would be in a 
minority. They also referred to the Premier's oracular utterances. 

"Ah!" said the King. "Has Radoslavoff spoken to you, and 
what has he said? " 

"He has said — " repHed the leaders, "that Bulgaria would 
march with Germany and attack Serbia." 

The King made a vague gesture, and then said: 'Oh, I did 
not know." 

This incident throws a strong Ught upon the conflict which 
was going on in the Balkan states, between those Kings who were 
of German origin, and who beheved in the German power, and 
their people who loved Russia. King Ferdinand got his warning. 
He did not listen, and he lost his throne. All this, however, took 
place before the Bulgarian declaration of war. Yet much had 



HOW THE BALKANS DECIDED 357 

already shown what King Ferdinand was about to do. The 
Allies, to be sure, were incredulous, and were doing their best to 
cultivate the good will of the treacherous King. On September 
23d the official order was given for Bulgaria's mobilization. She, 
however, officially declared that her position was that of armed 
neutrality and that she had no aggressive intentions. As it has 
developed, she was acting under the direction of the German 
High Command. 

It was at this period that Germany had failed to crush Russia 
in the struggle on the Vilna, and, in accordance with her usual 
strategy when one plan failed, another was undertaken. It seemed 
to her, therefore, that the punishment of Serbia would make up 
for other failures, and moreover would enable her to assist Turkey, 
which needed munitions, besides releasing for Germany supplies 
of food and other material which might come from Turkey. They 
therefore entrusted an expedition against Serbia to Field Marshal 
von Mackensen, and had begun to gather an army for that purpose, 
north of the Danube. 

This army of course was mainly composed of Austrian troops, 
but was stiffened throughout by some of the best regiments from 
the German army. To assist this new army they counted upon 
Bulgaria, with whom they had aheady a secret treaty, and in 
spite of the falsehoods issued from Sofia, the Bulgarian mobihza- 
tion was meant for an attack on Serbia. The condition of affairs 
was well understood in Russia. 

On October 2, 1915, M. Sazonov, Russian Minister of Foreign 
Affairs, issued the following statement. ''The situation in the 
Balkans is very grave. The whole Russian nation is aroused by 
the unthinkable treachery of Ferdinand and his government to 
the Slavic cause. Bulgaria owes her independence to Russia, and 
yet seems wilHng now to become a vassal of Russia's enemies. 
In her attitude towards Serbia, when Serbia is fighting for her very 
existence, Bulgaria puts herself in the class with Turkey. We do 
not beheve that the Bulgarian people sympathize with the action of 
their ruler; therefore, the Allies are disposed to give them time for 
reflection. If they persist in their present treacherous course they 
must answer to Russia." 

The next day the following ultimatum from Russia was 
handed the Bulgarian Prime Minister ; 



358 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR 

Events which are taking place in Bulgaria at this moment give evi- 
dence of the definite decision of King Ferdinand's Government to place 
the fate of its country in the hands of Germany. The presence of German 
and Austrian officers at the Ministry of War and on the staffs of the army, 
the concentration of troops in the zone bordering on Serbia, and the 
extensive financial support accepted from her enemies by the Sofia Cab- 
inet, no longer leave any doubt as to the object of the present military 
preparations of Bulgaria. The powers of the Entente, who have at 
heart the reahzation of the aspirations of the Bulgarian people, have on 
many occasions warned M. Radoslavoff that any hostile act against 
Serbia would be considered as directed against themselves. The assur- 
ances given by the head of the Bulgarian Cabinet in reply to these warn- 
ings are contradicted by facts. The representative of Russia, bound to 
Bulgaria by the imperishable memory of her liberation from the Turkish 
yoke, cannot sanction by his presence preparations for fratricidal aggres- 
sion against a Slav and allied people. The Paissian Minister has, there- 
fore, received orders to leave Bulgaria with all the staffs of the Legation 
and the Consulates if the Bulgarian Government does not within tv/enty- 
four hours openly break with the enemies of the Slav cause and of Russia, 
and does not at once proceed to send away the officers belonging to the 
armies of states v/ho are at war with the powers of the Entente. 

Similar ultimatums were presented by representatives of 
France and Great Britain. Bulgaria's reply to these ultimatums was 
described as bold to the verge of insolence. In substance she 
denied that German officers were on the staffs of Bulgarian armies, 
but said that if they were present that fact concerned only Bulgaria, 
which reserved the right to invite whomsoever she liked. The 
Bulgarian Government then issued a manifesto to the nation, an- 
nouncing its decision to enter the war on the side of the Central 
Powers. The manifesto reads as follows: 

The Central Powers have promised us parts of Serbia, creating an 
Austro-Hungarian border line, which is absolutely necessary for Bulgaria's 
independence of the Serbians. We do not believe in the promises of the 
Quadruple Entente. Italy, one of the Allies, treacherously broke her 
treaty of thirty-three years. We believe in Germany, which is fighting 
the whole world to fulfil her treaty with Austria. Bulgaria must fight 
at the victor's side. The Germans and Austro-Hungarians are victorious 
on all fronts. Russia soon will have collapsed entirely. Then will come 
the turn of France, Italy and Serbia. Bulgaria would commit suicide if 
she did not fight on the side of the Central Powers, which offer the only 
possibility of realizing her desire for a union of all Bulgarian peoples. 

The manifesto also stated that Russia was fighting for Con- 
stantinople and the Dardanelles; Great Britain to destroy Ger- 



HOW THE BALKANS DECIDED 359 

many's competition; France for Alsace and Lorraine, and the 
other allies to rob foreign countries; the Central Powers were 
declared to be fighting to defend property and assure peaceful 
progress. The manifesto filled seven columns in the newspapers, 
and discussed at some length Bulgaria's trade interests. It attacked 
Serbia most bitterly, declaring that Serbia had oppressed the Bul- 
garian population of Macedonia in a most barbarous manner; 
that she had attacked Bulgarian territory and that the Bulgarian 
troops had been forced to fight for the defense of their own soil. 
In fact it was written in quite the usual German manner. 

Long before this M. Venizelos, the Greek Premier, had per- 
ceived what was coming. Greece was bound by treaty to assist 
Serbia if she were attacked by Bulgaria. On September 21st, 
Venizelos asked France and Britain for a hundred and fifty thousand 
troops. On the 24th, the AlHes agi'eed to this and Greece at once 
began to mobiUze. His poHcy was received with great enthusiasm 
in the Greek Chamber, and former Premier Gounaris, amid great 
applause, expressed his support of the government. 

On October 6th an announcement from Athens stated that 
Premier Venizelos had resigned, the King havmg informed him 
that he was unable to support the poHcy of his Minister. Kmg 
Constantine was a brother-in-law of the German Emperor, and 
although professing neutraUty he had steadily opposed M. Veni- 
zelos* pohcy. He had once before forced M. Venizelos' resignation, 
but at the general elections which followed, the Greek statesman 
was returned to power by a decisive majority. 

Intense indignation was caused by the King's action, though 
the King was able to procure the support of a considerable party. 
Venizelos' resignation was precipitated by the landing of the AUied 
troops in Saloniki. They had come at the invitation of Venizelos, 
but the opposition protested against the occupation of Greek terri- 
tory by foreign troops. After a disorderly session in which Veni- 
zelos explained to the Chamber of Deputies the circumstances 
connected with the landing, the Chamber passed a vote of confi- 
dence in the government by 142 to 102. The substance of his 
argument may be found in his conclusion: 

"We have a treaty with Serbia. If we are honest we will 
leave nothing undone to insure its fulfilment in letter and spirit. 
Only if we are rogues may we find excuses to avoid our obligations." 



360 



HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR 




3 H 



HOW THE BALKANS DECIDED 361 

Upon his first resignation M. Zaimis was appointed Premier, 
and declared for a policy of armed neutrality. This position was 
sharply criticised by Venizelos, but for a time became the policy 
of the Greek Government. Meantime the Alhed troops were 
arriving at Saloniki. On October 3d, seventy thousand French 
troops arrived. A formal protest was made by the Greek coromand- 
ant, who then directed the harbor officials to assist in arranging 
the landing. In a short time the Allied forces amounted to a 
hundred and fifty thousand men, but the German campaign was 
moving rapidly. 

The German Balkan army captured Belgrade on the 9th of 
October, and by that date two Bulgarian armies were on the 
Serbian frontier. Serbia found herseK opposed by two hundred 
thousand Austro-Germans and a quarter of a milUon Bulgarians. 
Greece and Roumania fully mobilized and were watching the 
conflict, and the small allied contingent at Salonild was preparing 
to march inland to the aid of Serbia. 

The conduct of Greece on this occasion has led to universal 
criticism. The King himself, no doubt, was mainly moved by 
his German wife and the influence of his Imperial brother-in-law. 
Those that were associated with him were probably moved by 
fear. They had been much impressed by the strength of the 
German armies. They had seen the success of the great German 
offensive in Russia, while the French and British were being held 
in the West. They knew, too, the strength of Bulgaria. The 
national characteristic of the Greeks is prudence, and it cannot 
be denied that there was great reason to suppose that the armies of 
Greece would not be able to resist the new attack. With these 
views Venizelos, the greatest statesman that Greece had pro- 
duced for many years, did not agree, and the election seemed to 
show that he was supported by the majority of the Greek people. 

This was another case where the Alhes, faced by a dangerous 
situation, were acting with too great caution. In Gallipoli they 
had failed, because at the very beginning they had not used their 
fuU strength. Now, again, knowing as they did all that depended 
upon it, bound as they were to the most loyal support of Serbia, 
the aid they sent was too small to be more than a drop in the bucket. 
It must be remembered, however, that the greatest leaders among 
the AlHes were at all times opposed to in any way scattering their 



362 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR 

strength. They believed that the war was to be won in France. 
MiUtary leaders in particular yielded under protest to the political 
leaders when expeditions of this character were undertaken. 

Certainly this is true, that the world believed that Serbia had a 
right to AlUed assistance. The gallant little nation was fighting 
for her life, and pubhc honor demanded that she should be aided. 
It was this strong feeling that led to the action that was taken, in 
spite of the roihtary opinions. It was, however, too late. 

In the second week of October Serbia found herself faced by 
an enemy which was attacking her on three sides. She herself had 
been greatly weakened. Her losses in 1914, when she had driven 
Austria from her border, must have been at least two hundred 
thousand men. She had suffered from pestilence and famine. Her 
strength now could not have been more than two hundred thousand, 
and though she was fairly well supplied with munitions, she was 
so much outnumbered that she could hardly hope for success. 
On her west she was facing the Austro-German armies; on her east 
Bulgaria; on the south Albania. Her source of suppUes was 
Saloniki and this was really her only hope. If the AUies at Salo- 
niki could stop the Bulgarian movement, the Serbians might face 
again the Austro-Germans. They expected this help from the 
Allies. 

At Nish the town was decorated and the school children 
waited outside the station with bouquets to present to the coming 
reinforcements. But the AUies did not come. 

Von Mackensen's plan was simple enough. His object was 
to win a way to Constantinople. This could be done either by the 
control of the Danube or the Ottoman Railroad. To control the 
Danube he had to seize northeastern Serbia for the length of the 
river. This was comparatively easy and would give him a clear 
water way to the Bulgarian railways connected with Constanti- 
nople. The Ottoman Railway was a harder route to win. It 
meant an advance to the southeast, which would clear the Moravo 
valley up to Nish, and then the Nishava valley up to Bulgaria. 
The movements involved were somewhat complex, but easily 
carried out on accoxmt of the very great numerical superiority of 
von Mackensen's forces. 

On September 19th Belgrade was bombarded. The Serbian 
positions were gradually destroyed. On the 7th of October the 



HOW THE BALKANS DECIDED 



363 



German armies crossed the Danube, and on the 8th the Serbians 
began to retreat. There was great destruction in Belgrade and 
the Bulgarian General, Mishitch, was forced slowly back to the 
foothills of the Tser range. 

For a time von Mackensen moved slowly. He did not wish 
to drive the Serbians too far south. On the 12th of October the 
Bulgarian army began its attack. At first it was held, but by 
October 17th was pushing forward all along the line. On the 20th 
they entered Uskub, a central point of all the routes of southern 

Serbia. This practically 
separated the Allied forces 
at Saloniki from the Serb- 
ian armies further north. 
Disaster followed dis- 
aster. On Tuesday, 
October 26th, a junction 
of Bulgarian and Austro- 




German pa- 
trols was com- 
pleted in the 
Dobravodo 
mountains. 
General von Gallwitz 
announced that a mo- 
ment of world signifi- 



Germant's Dream: **Thb Brembn-Beblin-Bos- 

PORrrs-BAGDAI>-BAHN" 



cance had come, that the 
"Orient and Occident had been united, and on the basis of this 
firm and indissoluble imion a new and mighty vierbund comes into 
being, created by the victory of our arms." 

The road from Germany, through Austria-Hungary and Bul- 
garia to Turkey lay open. On October 31st, Milanovac was lost, 
and on November 2d, Kraguyevac surrendered, the decisive 
battle of the war. On November 7th, Nish was captured. General 
Jecoff announced: "After fierce and sanguinary fighting the for- 
tress of Nish has been conquered by our brave victorious troops 
and the Bulgarian flag has been hoisted to remain forever." 



364 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR 

The Serbian army continued steadily to retreat, until on 
November 8th, advancing Franco-British troops almost joined 
with them, presenting a line from Prilep to Dorolovo on the Bul- 
garian frontier. At this time the Bulgarian army suffered a defeat 
at Izvor, and also at Strumitza. The AlKed armies were now 
reported to number three hundred thousand men. The Austro- 
Germans by this time had reached the mountainous region of 
Serbia, and were meeting with strong resistance. 

On November 13th, German despatches from the front claimed 
the capture of 54,000 Serbian prisoners. The aged King Peter 
of Serbia was in full flight, followed by the Crown Prince. The 
Serbians, however, were still fighting and on November 15th, 
made a stand on the western bank of the Morava River, and recap- 
tured the town of Tatova. 

At this time the AUied world was watching the Serbian struggle 
with interest and sympathy. In the House of Lords, Lord Lans- 
downe in a discussion of the EngHsh effort to give them aid said: 
''It is impossible to think or speak of Serbia without a tribute to 
the wondrous gallantry with which that little country withstood 
two separate invasions, and has lately been struggling against a 
third. She repelled the first two invasions by an effort which I 
venture to think formed one of the most glorious chapters in the 
history of this Great War." 

Serbia, however, was compelled once more to retreat, and 
their retreat soon became a rout. Their guns were abandoned 
and the roads were strewn with fainting, starving men. The suf- 
ferings of the Serbian people during this time are indescribable. 
Men, women, and children struggled along in the wake of the armies 
without food or shelter. King Peter himself was able to escape, 
with the greatest difficulty. By traveling on horseback and mule 
back in disguise he finally reached Scutari and crossed to Brindisi 
and finally arrived at Saloniki on New Year's Day, crippled and 
almost blind, but still full of fight. 

"I beheve," he said, "in the liberty of Serbia, as I believe in 
God. It was the dream of my youth. It was for that I fought 
throughout manhood. It has become the faith of the twilight of 
my life. I live only to see Serbia free. I pray that God may let 
me five until the day of redemption of my people. On that day I 
am ready to die, if the Lord wills. I have struggled a great deal 



HOW THE BALKANS DECIDED 365 

in my life, and am tired, bruised and broken from it, but I will see, 
I shall see, this triumph. I shall not die before the victory of my 
country." 

The Serbian army had been driven out of Serbia. But the 
Allies who had come up from Saloniki were still unbeaten. On 
October 12th, the French General Serrail arrived and moved with 
the French forces, as has already been said, to the Serbian aid. 
They met with a number of successes. On October 19th they 
seized the Bulgarian town of Struminitza, and occupied strong 
positions on the left bank of the Vardar. On October 27th they 
occupied Krivolak, with the British Tenth Division, which had 
joined them on their right. They then occupied the summit of 
Karahodjali, which commanded the whole section of the valley. 
This the Bulgarians attacked in force on the 5th of November, 
but were badly repulsed. They then attempted to move toward 
Babuna Pass, twenty-five miles west of Krivolak, where they 
hoped to join hands with the Serbian column at that point. 

They were being faced by a Bulgarian army numbering one 
himdred and twenty-five thousand men, and found themselves in 
serious danger. They were compelled to fall back into what is 
called the "Entrenched Camp of Kavodar" without bringing the 
aid to the Serbian army that they had hoped. The Alhed expedi- 
tion to aid Serbia had failed. It was hopeless from the start, and, 
if anything, had injured Serbia by raising false expectations which 
had interfered with their plans. 

During the whole of this disastrous campaign a desperate 
political struggle was going on in Greece. On November 3d, the 
Zaimis Cabinet tendered its resignation to King Constantine. 
The trouble was over a bill for extra pay to army officers, but it 
led to an elaborate discussion of the Greek war policy. M. Veni- 
zelos made two long speeches defending his policy, and condemning 
the policy of his opponents in regard to the Balkan situation. He 
said that he deplored the fact that Serbia was being left to be 
crushed by Bulgaria, Greece's hereditary enemy, who would not 
scruple later to fall on Greece herseK. He spoke of the King in a 
friendly way, criticising, however, his position. He had been 
twice removed from the Premiership, although he had a majority 
behind him in the Greek Chamber. 

"Our State" he said, "is a democracy, presided over by the 



366 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR 

King, and the whole responsibiUty rests with the Cabinet. I 
admit that the Crown has a right to disagree with the responsible 
government if he thinks the latter is not in agreement with the 
national will. But after the recent election, non-agreement is 
out of the question, and now the Crown h<as not the right to disagree 
again on the same question. It is not a question of patriotism but 
of constitutional hberty." 

When the vote was taken the government was defeated by 
147 to 114. Instead of appointing Venizelos Premier, King Con- 
stantine gave the position to M. Skouloudis, and then dissolved 
the Greek Chamber by royal decree. Premier Skouloudis declared 
his pohcy to be neutrality with the character of sincerest benevo- 
lence toward the Entente Powers. The general conditions at 
Athens during this whole time were causing great anxiety in the 
AUied capitals, and the AlUed expedition were in continual fear of 
an attack in the rear in case of reverse. They endeavored to obtain 
satisfactory assurances on this point, and while assurances were 
given, during the whole period of King Constantine's reign aggres- 
sive action was prevented because of the doubt as to what course 
King Constantine would take. 

It was not till August 27th, 1916, that Roumania cast aside 
her r61e of neutral and entered the war with a declaration of hos- 
tihties on Austria-Hungary. Great expectations were founded 
upon the supposedly well-trained Roumanian army and upon the 
nation which, because of its alertness and discipline, was known 
as ''the poHceman of Europe." The beUef was general in Paris 
and London that the weight of men and material thrown into the 
scale by Roumania would bring the war to a speedy, victorious end. 

Germany, however, was confident. A spy system excelhng 
in its detailed reports anything that had heretofore been attempted, 
made smooth the path of the German army. Scarcely had the 
Roumanian army launched a drive in force into Transylvania on 
August 30th, when the message spread from Bucharest "von 
Mackensen is coming. Recall the army. Draft all males of 
military age. Prepare for the worst." 

And the worst fell upon hapless Roumania. A vast force of 
military engineers moving Hke a human screen in front of von 
Mackensen's army, followed routes carefully mapped out by 
German spies during the period of Roumania's neutrality. Mill- 




MANY-STORIED BAGDAD FALLS TO THE BRITISH 



General Maude is here shown making his formal entry at the head of his troops 
into the Turkish city. This occurred on March 11, 1917, and was the most 
notable exploit of General Maude, commander of the British Mesopotamian expedi- 
tion until his death by cholera nme months afterwards. 



HOW THE BALKANS DECIDED 369 

tary bridges, measured to the inch, had been prepared to carry 
cannon, material and men over streams and ravines. Every 
Roumanian oil well, mine and storehouse had been located and 
mapped. German scientists had studied Roumanian weather 
conditions and von Mackensen attacked while the roads were at 
their best and the weather most favorable. As the Germans 
swept forward, spies met them giving them military information 
of the utmost value. A swarm of airplanes spied out the move- 
ments of the Roumanians and no Roumanian airplanes rose to 
meet them. 

General von Falkenhayn, co-operating with von Mackensen, 
smashed his way through Vulkan Pass, and cut the main Hne 
running to Bucharest at Craiova. The Dobrudja region was 
over-run and the central Roumanian plain was swept clear of all 
Roumanian opposition to the German advance. The seat of 
government was transferred from Bucharest to Jassy on November 
28, 1916, and on December 6th Bucharest was entered by von 
Mackensen, definitely putting an end to Roumania as a factor in 
the war. 

The immediate result of the fall of Roumania was to release 
immense stores of petroleum for German use. British and Rou- 
manian engineers had done their utmost by the use of explosives 
to make useless the great Roumanian oil wells, but German 
engineers soon had the precious fluid in full flow. This furnished 
the fuel which Germany had long and ardently desired. The 
oil-burning submarine now came into its own. It was possible 
to plan a great fleet of submersibles to attempt execution of von 
Tirpitz's plan for unrestricted submarine warfare. This was 
decided upon by the German High Comcmand the day Bucharest 
fell. It was reaHzed that such a policy would bring the United 
States into the war, but the Kaiser and his advisers hoped the 
submarine on sea and a great western front offensive on land would 
force a decision in favor of Germany before America could get 
ready. How that hope failed was revealed at Chateau-Thierry 
and in the humiliation of Germany. 



CHAPTER XXIV 

The Campaign in Mesopotamia 

N our previous discussion of the British campaign in Mesopo- 
tamia we left the British forces intrenched at Kuma, and 
also occupying Basra, the port of Bagdad. The object of 
the Mesopotamia Expedition was primarily to keep the enemy 
from the shores of the Gulf of Persia. If the English had been 
satisfied with that, the misfortune which was to come to them 
might never have occurred, but the whole expediton was essen- 
tially pohtical rather than military in its nature. 

The British were defending India. The Germans, unable to 
attack the British Empire by sea, were hoping to attack her by 
land. They had already attempted to stir up a Holy War with 
the full expectation that it would lead to an Indian revolution. 
In this they had failed, for the millions of Mohammedans in India 
cared httle for the Turkish Sultan or his proclamations. Through 
Bagdad, however, they hoped to strike a blow at the English influ- 
ence on the Persian Gulf. The English, therefore, felt strongly 
that it was not enough to sit safely astride the Tigris, but that a 
blow at Bagdad would produce a tremendous political effect. It 
would practically prevent German communication with Persia, 
and the Indian frontier. 

As a matter of fact the Persian Gulf and the oil fields were 
safe so long as the Enghsh held Kuma and Basra, and the Arabs 
were of no special consequence. The real reason for the expedition 
was probably that about this time matters were moving badly 
for the Allies. Serbia was in trouble in the Balkans, Galhpoli 
was a failure, something it seemed ought to be done to restore the 
British prestige. Up to this time the Mesopotamia Expedition 
had been a great success, but it had made no great impression on 
the world. The Httle villages in the hands of the British had 
unknown names, but if Bagdad should be captured Great Britain 
would have something to boast of; something that would keep 
up its prestige among its Mohammedan subjects. 

370 



THE CAMPAIGN IN MESOPOTAMIA 371 

Before the expedition to Bagdad was determined on, there 
"had been several Hvely fights between the English forces and the 
Turks. On March 3d a Tiurkish force numbering about twelve 
thousand appeared at Ahwaz where the British had placed a small 
garrison to protect the pipe line of the Anglo-Persian Oil Company. 
The British retirement led to heavy fighting, with severe losses. 

A number of Hvely skirmishes followed, and then came the 
serious attack against Shaiba. The Turkish army numbered about 
eighteen thousand men, of whom eleven thousand were regulars. 
The fighting lasted for several days, the Turks being reinforced. 
On the 14th of April, however, the English attacked in turn and 
put the whole enemy force to flight. The British lost about seven 
hundred ofiicers and men, and reported a Turkish loss of about 
six thousand. In their retreat the Tiu*ks were attacked by their 
Arab alHes, and suffered additional losses. From that time till 
summer there were no serious contests, although there were occa- 
sional skirmishes which tinned out favorably to the British. 

By this time the Turks had collected a considerable army 
north of Kuma, and on May 31st an expedition was made to 
disperse it. On June 3d the British captm-ed Amara, seventy-five 
miles above Kuma, scattering the Turkish army. Early in July 
a similar expedition was sent against Nasiriyeh, which led to serious 
fighting, the Tm-ks being badly defeated with a loss of over two 
thousand five hundred men. 

Kut-el-Amara still remained, and early in August an expedi- 
tion was directed against that point. The Turks were found in 
great force, well intrenched, and directed by German officers. 
The battle lasted for four days. The EngUsh suffered great hard- 
ship on account of the scarcity of water and the bhnding heat, 
but on September 29th they drove the enemy from the city and 
took possession. More than two thousand prisoners were taken. 
The town was found thoroughly fortified, with an elaborate system 
of trenches extending for miles, built in the true German fashion. 
Its capture was the end of the summer campaign. 

The British now had at last made up their minds to push on 
to Bagdad. General Townshend, whose work so far had been 
admirable, protested, but Sir John Nixon, and the Indian miUtary 
authorities, were strongly in favor of the expedition. By October, 
Turkey was able to gather a large army. She was fighting in 



\n 



HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR 




THE CAMPAIGN IN MESOPOTAMIA 



373 









ffCDcA ♦ / 



Transcaucasia, Egypt, Gallipoli and Mesopotamia. Little was 
going on in the first three of these fronts, and she was able there- 
fore to send to Mesopotamia almost a quarter of a million men. 

To meet these, General Townshend had barely fifteen thousand 
men, of whom only one-third were white soldiers. He was backed 
by a flotilla of boats of almost every kind, — ^river boats, motor 
launches, paddle steamers, native punts. The British army was 
almost worn out by the fighting during the intense heat of the 
previous sunomer. But their success had given them confidence. 

In the early days of October the advance began. For some 
days it proceeded with no serious 
fighting. On the 23d of October 
it reached Azizie, and was halted 
by a Turkish force numbering 
about four thousand. These were 
soon routed, and the advance 
continued until General Town- 
shend arrived at Lajj, about seven 
miles from Ctesiphon, where the 
Turks were found heavily in- 
trenched and in great numbers. 
Ctesiphon was a famous old city 
which had been the battle ground 
of Romans and Parthians, but was 
now mainly ruins. In these ruins, 
however, the Turks found admirable 
shelter for nests of machine guns. 
On the 21st of November General 
Townshend made his attack. 

The Turks occupied two fines of intrenchments, and had 
about twenty thousand men, the EngHsh about twelve thousand. 
General Townshend's plan was to divide his army into three 
columns. The first was to attack the center of the first Turkish 
position. A second was directed at the left of that position, and 
a third was to swing widely around and come in on the rear of the 
Turkish force. This plan was entirely successful, but the Turkish 
army was not routed, and retreated fighting desperately to its 
second line. There it was reinforced and counter-attacked with 
such vigor that it drove the British back to its old first trenches. 



Turkish -fi^ 




Enjjiish Miles 



Map of Gen. Townshend's Lines of 
Attack on Kut-el-Amara 



374 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR 

The next day the Turks were further remforced and attacked 
again. The British drove them back over and over, but found 
themselves unable to advance. The Turks had lost enormously 
but the EngHsh had lost about one-third of their strength, and 
were compelled to fall back. They therefore returned on the 
26th to Lajj, and ultimately, _after continual rear-guard actions, 
to Kut. There they found themselves surrounded, and there was 
nothing to do but to wait for help. 

By this time the eyes of the world were upon the beleaguered 
British army. Help was being hurried to them from India, but 
Germany also was awake and Marshal von Der Goltz, who had 
been mihtary instructor in the Turkish army, was sent down to 
take command of the Turkish forces. The town of Kut hes in 
the loop of the Tigris, making it almost an island. There was an 
intrenched line across the neck of land on the north, and the place 
could resist any ordinary assault. The great difficulty was one of 
supplies. However, as the relieving force was on the way, no 
great anxiety was felt. For some days there was constant bombard- 
ment, which did no great damage. On the 23d an attempt was 
made to carry the place by assault, but this too failed. The reliev- 
ing force, however, was having its troubles. These were the days 
of floods, and progress was slow and at times almost impossible. 
Moreover, the Turks were constantly resisting. 

The relief expedition was composed of thirty thousand Indian 
troops, two Anglo-Indian divisions, and the remnants of Town- 
shend's expedition, a total of about ninety thousand men. General 
Sir Percy Lake was in command of the entire force. The march 
began on January 6th. By January 8th the British had reached 
Sheikh Saad, where the Turks were defeated in two pitched battles. 
On January 22d he had arrived at XJmm-el-Hanna, where the 
Turks had intrenched themselves. 

After artillery bombardment the Turkish positions were 
attacked, but heavy rains had converted the ground into a sea of 
mud, rendering rapid movement impossible. The enemy's fire 
was heavy and effective, inflicting severe losses, and though every 
effort was made, the assault failed. 

For weeks the British troops bivouacked in driving rain on 
soaked and sodden ground. Three times they were called upon 
to advance over a perfectly flat country, deep in mud, and abso- 



THE CAMPAIGN IN MESOPOTAMIA 375 

lutely devoid of cover against well-constructed and well-planned 
trenches, manned by a brave and stubborn enemy, approximately 
their equal in numbers. They showed a spirit of endurance and 
self-sacrifice of which their country may well be proud. 

But the repulse at Hanna did not discourage the British army. 
It was decided to move up the left bank of the Tigris and attack 
the Turkish position at the Dujailah redoubt. This meant a night 
march across the desert with the great danger that there would 
be no water supply and that, unless the enemy was routed, the 
army would be in great danger. 

General Lake says: "On the afternoon of March 7th, General 
Aylmer assembled his subordinate commanders and gave his final 
instructions, laying particular stress on the fact that the operation 
was designed to effect a surprise, and that to prevent the enemy 
f orestalhng us, it was essential that the first phase of the operation 
should be pushed through with the utmost vigor. His dispositions 
were, briefly, as follows: The greater part of a division under 
General Younghusband, assisted by naval gunboats, controlled the 
enemy on the left bank. The remaining troops were formed into 
two columns, under General Kemball and General Keary respect- 
ively, a reserve of infantry, and the cavalry brigade, being held 
at the corps commander's own disposal. KembalFs column 
covered on the outer flank by the cavalry brigade was to make a 
turning movement to attack the Dujailah redoubt from the south, 
supported by the remainder of the force, operating from a position 
to the east of the redoubt. The night march by this large force, 
which led across the enemy's front to a position on his right flank, 
was a difficult operation, entaiUng movement over unknown ground, 
and requiring most careful arrangement to attain success." 

Thanks to excellent staff work and good march discipline the 
troops reached their allotted position apparently undiscovered by 
the enemy, but while Keary's colunm was in position at daybreak, 
ready to support Kemball's attack, the latter' s conunand did not 
reach the point selected for its deployment in the Dujailah depres- 
sion until more than an hour later. This delay was highly preju- 
dicial to the success of the operation. 

When, nearly three hours later, Kemball's troops advanced 
to the attack, they were strongly opposed by the enemy from 
trenches cleverly concealed in the brushwood, and were unable to 



376 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR 

make further ground for some time, though assisted by Keary's 
attack upon the redoubt from the east. The southern attack was 
now reinforced, and by 1 p. m. had pushed forward to within five 
hundred yards of the redoubt, but concealed trenches again stopped 
further progress and the Turks made several counter-attacks with 
reinforcements which had by now arrived from the direction of 
Magasis. 

It was about this time that the corps commander received 
from his engineer officers the unwelcome news that the water supply 
contained in rain-water pools in the Dujailah depression, upon 
which he had reckoned, was insufficient and could not be increased 
by digging. It was clear, therefore, that unless the Dujailah 
redoubt could be carried that day the scarcity of water would, of 
itself, compel the troops to fall back. Preparations were accord- 
ingly made for a further assault on the redoubt, and attacks were 
launched from the south and east under cover of a heavy bombard- 
ment. 

The attacking forces succeeded in gaining a foothold in the 
redoubt. But here they were heavily counter-attacked by large 
enemy reinforcements, and being subjected to an extremely rapid 
and accurate shrapnel fire from concealed guns in the vicinity of 
Sinn After, they were forced to fall back to the position from which 
they started. The troops who had been under arms for some 
thirty hours, including a long night march, were now much 
exhausted, and General Aylmer considered that a renewal of the 
assault during the night could not be made with any prospect of 
success. Next morning the enemy's position was foimd to be 
unchanged and General Aylmer, finding himself faced with the 
deficiency of order already referred to, decided upon the immediate 
withdrawal of his troops to Wadi, which was reached the same night. 

For the next month the English were held in their positions 
by the Tigris floods. On April 4th the floods had sufficiently 
receded to permit of another attack upon Umm-el-Hanna, which 
this time was successful. On April 8th the Tm-kish position at 
Sanna-i-yat was attacked, but the English were repulsed. They 
then determined to make another attempt to capture the Sinn 
After redoubt. On April 17th the fort of Beit-Aiessa, four miles 
from Es Sinn, on the left bank, was captured after heavy bombard- 
ment, and held against serious counter-attacks. On the 20th 



THE CAMPAIGN IN MESOPOTAMIA 377 

and 21st the Sanna-i-yat position was bombarded and a vigorous 
assault was made, which met with some success. The Turks, 
however, delivered a strong counter-attack, and succeeded in 
forcing the British troops back. 

General Lake says: "Persistent and repeated attempts on 
both banks have thus failed, and it was known that at the outside 
not more than six days' supplies remained to the Kut garrison. 
The British troops were nearly worn out. The same troops had 
advanced time and again to assault positions strong by art and 
held by a determined enemy. For eighteen consecutive days they 
had done all that men could do to overcome, not only the enemy, 
but also exceptional climatic and physical obstacles, and this 
on a scale of rations which was far from being sufficient in view of 
the exertions they had undergone. The need for rest was im- 
perative." 

On April 28th the British garrison at Kut-el-Amara surrendered 
unconditionally, after a heroic resistance of a hundred and forty- 
three days. According to British figures the surrendered army 
was composed of 2,970 English and 6,000 Indian troops. The 
Turkish figures are 13,300. The Turks also captured a large 
amount of booty, although General Townshend destroyed most of 
his guns and munitions. 

During the period in which Kut-el-Amara was besieged by 
the Turks, the British troops had suffered much. The enemy bom- 
barded the town almost every day, but did Httle damage. The 
real foe was starvation. At first the British were confident that a 
relief expedition would soon reach them, and they amused them- 
selves by cricket and hockey and fishing in the river. By early 
February, however, it was found necessary to reduce the rations, 
and a month later they were suffering from hunger. Some Httle 
help was given them by airplanes, which brought tobacco and some 
small quantities of supplies. Soon the horses and the mules were 
slaughtered and eaten. As time went on the situation grew des- 
perate; . till almost the end, however, they did not lose hope. 
Through the wireless they were informed about the progress of the 
relief expeditions and had even heard their guns in the distance. 
They gradually grew, however, weaker and weaker, so that on 
the surrender the troops in the first lines were too weak to march 
back with their kits. 



S78 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR 

The Turks treated the prisoners in a chivabic manner; food 
and tobacco was at once distributed, and all were interned in 
Anatolia, except General Townshend and his staff, who were taken 
to Constantinople. Later on it was General Townshend who was 
to have the honor of carrying the Turkish plea for an armistice in 
the closing days of the war. 

The surrender of Kut created a world-wide sensation. The 
loss of eight thousand troops was, of course, not a serious matter, 
and the road to India was still barred, but the moral effect was 
most unfortunate. That the great British nation, whose power 
had been so respected in the Orient, should now be forced to yield, 
was a great blow to its prestige. In England, of course, there 
was a flood of criticism. It was very plain that a mistake had 
been made. A commission was appointed to inquire into the 
whole business. This committee reported to Parhament on June 
26, 1917, and the report created a great sensation. The substance 
of the report was, that while the expedition was justifiable from a 
political point of view, it was undertaken with insufficient forces 
and inadequate preparation, and it sharply criticised those that 
were responsible. 

It seems plain that the miUtary authorities in India under- 
estimated their opponent. The report especially criticised General 
Sir John Eccles Nixon, the former commander of the British forces 
in Mesopotamia, who had urged the expedition, in spite of the 
objection of General Townshend. Others sharing the blame were 
the Viceroy of India, Baron Hardinge, General Sir Beauchamp 
Duff, Commander-in-Chief of the British forces in India, and, in 
England, Major-General Sir Edmund Barrow, MiUtary Secretary 
of the India office, J. Austen Chamberlain, Secretary for India, 
and the War Committee of the Cabinet. According to the report, 
beside the losses incurred by the surrender more than twenty- 
three thousand men were lost in the relieving expedition. The 
general armament and equipment were declared to be not only 
insufficient, but not up to the standard. 

In consequence of this report Mr. Chamberlain resigned as 
Secretary for India. In the House of Commons, Mr. Balfour, 
Secretary of Foreign Affairs, supported Lord Hardinge, who, at 
the time of the report, was Under Secretary of Foreign Affairs. 
He declared the criticism of Baron Hardinge to be grossly unjust. 



THE CAMPAIGN IN MESOPOTAMIA 379 

After some discussion the House of Commons supported Mr. 
Balfour's refusal to accept Baron Hardinge's resignation, by a vote 
of 176 to 81. It seems to be agreed that the civil administration 
of India were not responsible for the blunders of the expedition. 
Ten years before, Lord Kitchener, after a bitter controversy with 
Lord Curzon, had made the mihtary side of the Indian Govern- 
ment free of all civihan criticism and control. The blunders here 
were mihtary blunders. 

The Enghsh, of com'se, were not satisfied to leave the situation 
in such a condition, and at once began their plans for a new attempt 
to capture Bagdad. The summer campaign, however, was unevent- 
ful, though on May 18th a band of Cossacks from the Russian 
armies in Persia joined the British camp. A few days afterwards 
the British army went up the Tigris and captured the Dujailah 
redoubt, where they had been so badly defeated on the 8th of 
March. They then approached close to Kut, but the weather was 
unsuitable, and there was now no object in capturing the city. 

In August Sir Percy Lake was succeeded by Lieutenant-General 
Sir Frederick Stanley Maude, who carefully and thoroughly pro- 
ceeded to prepare for an expedition which should capture Bagdad. 
A dispatch from General Maude dated July 10, 1917, gives a full 
account of this expedition. It was thoroughly successful. This 
time with a sufficient army and a thorough equipment the British 
found no difficulties, and on February 26th they captured Kut-el- 
Amara, not after a hard-fought battle, but as the result of a suc- 
cessful series of small engagements. The Turks kept up a steady 
resistance, but the British blood was up. They were remembering 
General Townshend's surrender, and the Turks were driven before 
them in great confusion. 

The capture of Kut, however, was not an object in itself, and 
the British pushed steadily on up the Tigris. The Turks occa- 
sionally made a stand, but without effect. On the 28th of February 
the EngHsh had arrived at Azizie, half way to Bagdad, where a 
halt was made. On the 5th of March the advance was renewed. 
The Ctesiphon position, which had defied General Townshend, 
was found to be strongly intrenched, but empty. On March 7th 
the enemy made a stand on the Piver Diala, which enters the 
Tigris eight miles below Bagdad. Some lively fighting followed, 
the enemy resisting four attempts to cross the Diala. However, 



380 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR 

on March 10th the British forces crossed, and were now close to 
Bagdad. The enemy suddenly retired and the British troops 
found that their main opponent was a dust storm. The enemy 
retired beyond Bagdad, and on March 11th the city was occupied 
by the English. 

The fall of Bagdad was an important event. It cheered the 
Allies, and proved, especially to the Oriental world, the power 
of the British army. Those who originally planned its capture 
had been right, but those who were to carry out the plan had not 
done their duty. Under General Maude it was a comparatively 
simple operation, though full of admirable details, and it produced 
all the good effects expected. The British, of course, did not stop 
at Bagdad. The city itself is not of strategic importance. The 
surrounding towns were occupied and an endeavor was made to 
conciliate the inhabitants. The real object of the expedition was 
attained. "^ 



CHAPTER XXV 

Canada's Part in the Great War 

By Col. Geo. G. Nasmith, C. M. G., Toronto 

WHEN, in August, 1914, war burst suddenly upon a 
peaceful world like distant thunder in a cloudless 
summer sky, Canada, like the rest of the British 
Empire, was profoundly startled. She had been a 
peace-loving, non-mihtary nation, satisfied to develop her great 
natural resources, and hve in harmony with her neighbors; taking 
httle interest in European affairs, Canadians, in fact, were a typical 
colonial people, with Httle knowledge even of the strength of the 
ties that Hnked them to the British Empire. 

Upon declaration of war by Great Britain Canada immediately 
sprang to arms. The love of country and empire which had been 
no obvious thing burst forth in a patriotic fervor as deep as it was 
spontaneous and genuine. The call to action was answered with 
an enthusiasm the Hke of which had rarely, if ever, been seen in any 
British colony. 

The Canadian Government called for 20,000 volunteers — 
enough for a smgle division — as Canada's contribution to the 
British army. In less than a month 40,000 men had volunteered, 
and the Minister of MiUtia was compelled to stop the further 
enrolment of recruits. From the gold fields of the Yukon, from 
the slopes of the Rockies on the west to the surf-beaten shores 
of the Atlantic on the east; from workshop and mine; from farm, 
office and forest, Canada's sons trooped to the colors. 

It will be the everlasting glory of the men of the first Canadian 
contingent, that they needed no spin-, either of victory or defeat: 
they volunteered because they were quick to perceive that the 
existence of their Empire was threatened by the action of the most 
formidable nation-in-arms that the world had ever seen. They 
had been stirred by the deepest emotion of a race — the love of 
country. 

381 



38a HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR 

A site for a concentration camp was chosen at Valcartier, 
nestling among the blue Laurentian hills, sixteen miles from Quebec, 
and convenient to that point of embarkation. Within four days 
6,000 men had arrived at Valcartier; in another week there were 
25,000 men. From centers all over Canada troop trains, each 
carrying hundreds of embryo soldiers, sped towards Valcartier and 
deposited their burdens on the miles of sidings that had sprung up 
as though by magic. 

The rapid evolution of that wild and wooded river valley into a 
model military camp was a great tribute to the engineering skill and 
energy of civiHans who had never done the Hke before. One day 
an army of woodmen were seen felling trees; the next day the 
stumps were torn out and the hollows filled; on the third day long 
rows of tents in regular camp formation covered the ground, and 
on the fourth day they were occupied by civiUan soldiers concen- 
trated upon learning the rudiments of the art and science of war. 

Streets were laid out; miles of water pipes, sunk in machine- 
made ditches, were connected to hundreds of taps and shower 
baths; electric Ught was installed; three miles of rifle butts com- 
pleted, and in two weeks the camp was practically finished — the 
finest camp that the first Canadians were destined to see. The 
building of Valcartier camp was characteristic of the driving power, 
vision and genius of the Minister of Militia, General Sir Sam 
Hughes. 

Of the 33,000 men assembled at Valcartier, the great majority 
were civilians without any previous training in warfare. About 
7,000 Canadians had taken part in the South African war, fifteen 
years before, and some of these, together with a few ex-regulars 
who had seen active service, were formed into the Princess Patricia's 
Light Infantry. Otherwise, with the exception of the 3,000 regulars 
that formed the standing army of Canada, the men and most of the 
officers were amateurs. 

It was therefore a feat that the Canadian people could well 
afford to be proud of, that in the great crisis they were able, through 
their aggressive Minister of Militia, not only to gather up these 
forces so quickly but that they wilHngly and without delay con- 
verted their industries to the manufacture of all necessary army 
equipment. Factories all over the country immediately began 
turning out vast quantities of khaki cloth, uniforms, boots, ammuni- 



CANADA'S PART IN THE GREAT WAR 383 

tion, harness, wagons, and the thousand and one articles necessary 
for an army. 

Before the end of September, 1914, the Canadian Expeditionary 
Force had been roughly hewn into shape, battahons had been 
regrouped and remodeled, officers transferred and re-transferred, 
intensive training carried on, and all the necessary equipment 
assembled. On October 3, 1914, thirty-three Atlantic liners, 
carrying the contingent of 33,000 men, comprising infantry, artillery, 
cavalry, engineers, signalers, medical corps, araiy service supply 
and ammunition columns, together with horses, guns, anamunition, 
wagons, motor lorries and other essentials, sailed from Gasp6 basin 
on the Quebec seaboard to the battle-field of Europe. 

It was probably the largest convoy that had ever been gathered 
together. This modem armada in three long lines, each fine one 
and one-half miles apart, led by cruisers and with battleships on 
the front, rear and either flank, presented a thrilUng spectacle. 
The voyage proved uneventful, and on October 14th, the convoy 
steamed into Plymouth, receiving an extraordinary ovation by 
the sober Engfish people, who seemed temporarily to have gone 
wild with enthusiasm. Back of that demonstration was the con- 
viction that blood had proved thicker than water and that the 
apparently flimsy ties that bound the colonies to the empire were 
bonds that were unbreakable. The German conviction that the 
British colonies would fall away and the British Empire disintegrate 
upon the outbreak of a great war had proved fallacious. It was, 
moreover, a great demonstration of how the much-vaunted German 
navy had already been swept from the seas and rendered impotent 
by the might of Britain's fleet. 

A few days later the Canadians had settled down on Salisbury 
Plain in southern England for the fm-ther course of training neces- 
sary before proceeding to France. There, for nearly four months 
in the cold and the wet, in the fog and mud, in crowded, dripping 
tents and under constantly dripping skies, they carried on and 
early gave evidence of their powers of endurance and unquenchable 
spirit. i 

Lord Roberts made his last public appearance before this 
division and addressing the men said in part: ^' Three months 
ago we found ourselves involved in this war — a war not of our 
own seeking, but one which those who have studied Germany's 



384 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR 

literature and Germany's aspirations, knew was a war which we 
should inevitably have to deal with sooner or later. The prompt 
resolve of Canada to give us such valuable assistance has touched 
us deeply. . 

''We are fighting a nation which looks upon the British Empire 
as a barrier to her development, and has in consequence, long 
contemplated our overthrow and humiUation. To attain that end 
she has manufactured a magnificent fighting machine, and is strain- 
ing every nerve to gain victory. . . . It is only by the most 
determined efforts that we can defeat her." 

And this superb German military organization, created by 
years of tireless effort, was that which Canadian civilians had volun- 
teered to fight. Was it any wonder that some of the most able 
leaders doubted whether men and officers, no matter how brave 
and intelHgent, could ever equal the inspired barbarians who, even 
at that very moment, were battling with the finest British and 
French regulars and pressing them steadily towards Paris? 

In a short chapter of this kind attempting to deal with Canada's 
effort in the great war it is obviously impossible to go into detail 
or give more than the briefest of historical pictures. Consequently 
much that is fascinating can be given but a passing glance: for 
greater detail larger works must be consulted. Nevertheless it is 
well to try and view in perspective events as they occurred, in 
order to obtain some idea of their relative importance. 

In February, 1915, the first Canadian division crossed the 
Channel to France, and began to obtain front-line experiences in a 
section of the line just north of Neuve Chapelle. 

While the first division had been going through its course of 
training in England a second division had been raised in Canada 
and arrived in England shortly after the first left it. 

During that period the conflict in Europe had passed through 
certain preliminary phases — ^most of them fortunate for the AlHes. 
The unexpected holding up of the German armies by the Belgians 
had prevented the enemy from gaining the channel ports of Calais 
and Boulogne in the first rush. Later on the battle of the Mame 
had resulted in the rolling back of the German waves until they 
had subsided on a line roughly drawn through Dixmude, Ypres, 
Armentieres, La Bassee, Lens, and southward to the French border 
and the trench phase of warfare had begun, 





:^ ■: 'f ' I" 






E 'mu^ 





ON VIMY RroGE, WHERE CANADA WON LAURELS 

The Canadians took the important position oi Vimy Ridge on Easter Monday, 
April 9, 1917. They advanced with briUiance, having taken the whole system of 
German front-hne trenches between dawn and 6.30 A. m. This shows squads of 
machine gunners operating from shell-craters in support of the infantry on the 
plateau above the ridge. 




I 



Photo from Western Newspaper Union 

GENERAL ARTHUR CURRIE 
Commander of the Canadian forces on the Western Front 



CANADA'S PART IN THE GREAT WAR 387 

The British held the section of front between Ypres and 
La-Bassee, about thirty miles in length, the Germans, unfortunately, 
occupying all the higher grounds. 

Shortly after the arrival of the Canadian division the British, 
concentrating the largest number of guns that had hitherto been 
gathered together on the French front, made an attack on the 
Germans at Neuve Chapelle. This attack, only partially successful 
in gains of terrain, served to teach both belUgerents several lessons. 
It showed the British the need for huge quantities of high explosives 
with which to blast away wire and trenches and, that in an attack, 
rifle fire, no matter how accurate, was no match for unlimited 
numbers of machine guns. 

It showed the enemy what could be done with concentrated 
artillery fire — a lesson that he availed himself of with deadly effect 
a few weeks later. 

Though Canadian artillery took part in that bombardment 
the infantry was not engaged in the battle of Neuve Chapelle; it 
received its baptism of fire, however, under excellent conditions, 
and after a month's experience in trench warfare was taken out of 
the line for rest. 

The division was at the time under the command of a British 
general and the staff included several highly trained British staff 
officers. Nevertheless the commands were practically all in the 
hands of Canadians — lawyers, business men, real-estate agents, 
newspapermen and other amateur soldiers, who, in civiHan life as 
militiamen, had spent more or less time in the study of the theory 
of warfare. This should always be kept in mind in view of subse- 
quent events, as well as the fact that these amateur soldiers were 
faced by armies whose officers and men — ^professionals in the art 
and science of warfare — regarded themselves as invincible. 

In mid-April the Canadians took over a sector some five 
thousand yards long in the Ypres safient. On the left they joined 
up with French colonial troops, and on their right with the British. 
Thus there were Canadian and French colonial troops side by side. 

Toward the end of April the Germans reverted to supreme 
barbarism and used poison gas. Undismayed, though suffering 
terrible losses, the heroic Canadians fought the second battle of 
Ypres and held the line in the face of the most terrific assaults. 

When the news of the second battle of Ypres reached Canada 



388 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR 

her people were profoundly stirred. The blight of war had at last 
fallen heavily, destroying her first-born, but sorrow was mixed with 
pride and exaltation that Canadian men had proved a match for 
the most scientifically trained troops in Eiu*ope. As fighters 
Canadians had at once leaped into front rank. British, Scotch 
and Irish blood, with British traditions, had proved greater forces 
than the scientific training and philosophic principles of the Huns. 
It was a glorious illustration of the axiom ^' right is greater than 
might," which the German had in his pride reversed to read "might 
is right." It was prophetic of what the final issue of a contest based 
on such divergent principles was to be. So in those days Canadian 
men and women held their heads higher and carried on their war 
work with increased determination, stimulated by the knowledge 
that they were contending with an enemy more remorseless and 
implacable than those terrible creatures which used to come to 
them in their childish dreams. It was felt that, a nation which 
could scientifically and in cold blood resort to poison gases — 
contrary to all accepted agreements of civiUzed countries — to gain 
its object must be fought with all the determination, resources and 
sldll which it was possible to employ. 

Canada's heart had been steeled. She was now in the war 
with her last dollar and her last man if need be. She had begun 
to realize that failure in Europe would simply transfer the struggle 
with the German fighting hordes to our Atlantic provinces and 
the eastern American states. 

The famous Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry was 
originally composed of soldiers who had actually seen service and 
were therefore veterans. Incidentally they were older men and 
most of them were married but the call of the Empire was insistent. 

In the winter of 1914-15 the British fine in Flanders was 
very thin and the P. P. C. L. I's. being a trained regiment was sent 
over to France several weeks before the first Canadian division. 
It soon earned the name of a regiment of extraordinarily hard- 
fighting quahties and was all but wiped out before spring arrived. 
The immortal story of this gallant unit must be read in detail if 
one wishes to obtain any clear conception of their deeds of valor — 
of what it is possible for man to go through and live. However, it 
was but one regiment whose exploits were later equaled by other 
Canadian regiments and it would therefore be invidious to select 



CANADA'S PART IN THE GREAT WAR 389 

any one for special praise. After operating as a separate regiment 
for nearly two years and having been recruited from the regular 
Canadian depots in England, it became in composition like other 
Canadian regiments and was finally incoiporated in the third 
Canadian division. 

In the spring of 1915, a Canadian cavalry brigade was formed 
in France made up of Strathcona's Horse, King Edward's Horse, 
the Royal Canadian Dragoons and Canadian Mounted Rifles. 

After the second battle of Ypres, the Canadians after resting 
and re-organization, were moved to a section of the Hne near 
LaBassee. Here they fought the battle of Festubert — a series of 
infantry attacks and artillery bombardments, which gained little 
ground. 

Shortly afterwards they fought the battle of Givenchy, equally 
futile, as far as material results were concerned. Both of these 
battles had the double object of feeling out the strength of the 
German line and of obtaining the Aubers Ridge, should the attacks 
prove successful. In both battles the Canadians showed great 
aptitude for attack, and tenacity in their hold of captured trenches. 
They also learned the difficult lesson that if an objective Is passed 
by the infantry the latter enter the zone of their own artillery fire 
and suffer accordingly. 

In September, 1915, the Second Canadian Division arrived 
in Flanders and took its place at the side of the First Canadian 
Division, then occupying the Ploegsteert section in front of the 
Messines-Wytschaete Ridge. The rest of the winter was spent 
more or less quietly by both divisions in the usual trench warfare, 
and batthng with mud, water and weather. 

It was here that the Canadians evolved the 'Hrench raid," 
a method of cutting off a section of enemy trench, killing or taking 
prisoners all the enemy inhabitants, destroying it and returning 
with little or no loss to the attacking party. This method was 
quickly copied from one end of the Franco-British fine to the 
other; it proved a most valuable method of gaining information, 
and served to keep the troops, during the long cold winter months, 
stimulated and keen when otherwise life would have proved most 
dull and uninteresting. 

The Third Canadian Division was formed in January and 
February, 1916. Que infantry brigade was composed of regiments 



390 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR 

which had been acting as Canadian corps troops, including the 
Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry, and the Royal 
Canadian Regiment. The second infantry brigade was made 
up of six Canadian mounted rifle regiments, which had com- 
prised part of the cavalry brigade. These two brigades, of the 
Third Division, under the command of General Mercer of Toronto, 
almost immediately began front-line work. 

During this period, the Germans, making desperate efforts 
extending over weeks of time, did their utmost to break through 
the French line at Verdun and exhaust the French reserves. To 
offset these objects, a fourth British army was assembled, which 
took over still more of the French line, while a series of British 
attacks, intended to pin down the German reserves all along the 
line, was inaugurated. One of these developed into a fight for the 
craters — a terrible struggle at St. Eloi, where, blasted from their 
muddy ditches, with rifles and machine guns choked with mud 
and water; with communications lost and lack of artillery support, 
the men of the Second Canadian Division fought gamely from 
April 6th to April 20th, but were forced to yield the craters and 
part of their front line system to the enemy. 

Notwithstanding this the men of the Second Canadian Division 
at St. Eloi fought quite as nobly as had their brothers of the First 
Division just a year before, at the glorious battle of Ypres, a few 
miles farther north. But it was a bitter experience. The lesson of 
failure is as necessary in the education of a nation as that of success. 

On June 2d and 3d, the Third Canadian Division, which then 
occupied part of the line in the Ypres salient, including Hooge 
and Sanctuary Wood, was smothered by an artillery bombardment 
unprecedented in length and intensity. Trenches melted into 
irregular heaps of splintered wood, broken sand bags and mangled 
bodies. Fighting gallantly the men of this division fell in large 
numbers, where they stood. The best infantry in the world is power- 
less against avalanches of shells projected from greatly superior 
numbers of guns. The Canadian trenches were obliterated, not 
captured. 

By this time Britain had thoroughly learned her lesson, and 
now countless shells and guns were pouring into France from 
Great Britain where thousands of factories, new and old, toiled 
night and day, under the inspiring energy of Mr. Lloyd George. 



CANADA'S PART IN THE GREAT WAR 391 

On June 13th, in a terrific counter-attack, the Canadians in 
turn blasted the Huns from the trenches taken from them a few 
days before. The First Canadian Division recaptured and con- 
soHdated all the ground and trench systems that had been lost 
Thus ended the second year of Canadian mihtary operations in the 
Ypres salient Each of the three Canadian divisions had been 
tried by fire in that terrible region, from which, it was said, no 
man ever returned the same as he entered it. Beneath its torn and 
lifted surface, thousands of Canadians lie, mute testimony to the 
fact that love of liberty is still one of the most powerful, yet most 
intangible, things that man is swayed by. 

A very distinguished French general, speaking of the part 
that Canada was playing in the war, said, ''Nothing in the history 
of the world has ever been known quite like it. My countrymen 
are fighting within fifty miles of Paris, to push back and chastise 
a vile and leprous race, which has violated the chastity of beautiful 
France, but the Austrahans at the Dardanelles and the Canadians 
at Ypres, fought with supreme and absolute devotion for what to 
many must have seemed simple abstractions, and that nation 
which will support for an abstraction the horror of this war of all 
wars will ever hold the highest place in the records of human 
valor." 

The Fourth Canadian Division reached the Ypres region in 
August, 1916, just as the other three Canadian divisions were 
leaving for the Somme battle-field farther south. For a while it 
occupied part of the fine near Kemmel, but soon followed the other 
divisions to the Somme, there to complete the Canadian corps. 

It may be stated here that though a fifth Canadian division 
was formed and thoroughly trained in England, it never reached 
France. Canada, until the passing of the Military Service Act 
on July 6, 1917, depended solely on voluntary enlistment. Up to 
that time Canada, with a population of less than 9,000,000, had 
recruited 525,000 men by voluntary methods. Of this number 
358,986 had actually gone overseas. Voluntary methods at last, 
however, failed to supply drafts in sufficient numbers to keep up 
the strength of the depleted reserves in England, and in consequence 
conscription was decided upon. By this means, 56,000 men were 
drafted in Canada before the war ended. In the meantime, through 
heavy fighting the demand for drafts became so insistent that the 



39^ HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR 

Fifth Canadian Division in England had to be broken up to rein- 
force the exhausted fighting divisions in France. 

It would be an incomplete summary of Canada's part in the 
war that did not mention some of the men who have been responsible 
for the success of Canadian arms. It is obviously impossible to 
mention all of those responsible; it is even harder to select a few. 
But looldng backward one sees two figures that stand forth from 
all the rest — General Sir Sam Hughes in Canada, and General Sir 
Arthur Currie conamander of the Canadian corps. 

To General Sir Sam Hughes must be given the credit of having 
foreseen war with Germany and making such preparations as were 
possible in a democracy like Canada. He it was of all others who 
galvanized Canada into action; he it was whose enthusiasm and 
driving power were so contagious that they affected not only 
his subordinates but the country at large. 

Sir Sam Hughes will be remembered for the building of 
Valcartier camp and the dispatch of the first Canadian contingent. 
But he did things of just as great importance. It was he who 
sought and obtained for Canada, huge orders for munitions from 
Great Britain and thereby made it possible for Canada to weather 
the financial depression, pay her own war expenditures and emerge 
from the war in better financial shape than she was when the v/ar 
broke out. It was easy to build up a business once established but 
the chief credit must go to the man who estabhshed it. 

Sir Sam Hughes was also responsible for the selection of the 
officers who went overseas with the first Canadian contingent. 
Among those officers who subsequently became divisional command- 
ers were General Sir Arthur Currie, General Sir Richard Turner, 
General Sir David "Watson, Generals Lipsett, Mercer and Hughes. 

Of these generals. Sir Arthur Currie through sheer ability 
ultimately became conmiander of the Canadian corps. This big, 
quiet man, whose consideration, prudence and brilliancy had won 
the absolute confidence of Canadian officers and men alike, welded 
the Canadian corps into a fighting force of incomparable effective- 
ness — a force v/hich was set the most difficult tasks and, as events 
proved, not in vain. 

When Canada entered the war she had a permanent force 
of 3,000 men. When hostilities ceased on November 11, 1918, 
Canada had sent overseas 418,980 soldiers. In addition to this 



CANADA'S PART IN THE GREAT WAR 393 

about 15,000 men had joined the British Royal Air Service, several 
hundred physicians and veterinarians, as well as 200 nurses, had 
been supphed to the British army, while many hundreds of uni- 
versity men had received commissions in the imperial army and 
navy. 

In September, October and November, 1916, the Canadian 
corps of four divisions, which had been welded by General Byng 
and General Currie mto an exceedingly efficient fighting machine, 
took its part in the battle of the Soname — a battle in which the 
British army assumed the heaviest share of the fighting and 
casualties, and shifted the greatest burden of the struggle from 
the shoulders of the French to then* own. The British army had 
grown vastly in power and efficiency and in growing had taken over 
more and more of the fine from the French. 

The battle of the Somme was long and involved. The Franco- 
British forces were everywhere victorious and by hard and con- 
tinuous fighting forced the Hun back to the famous Hindenburg 
line. It was in this battle that the tanks, evolved by the British, 
were used for the first time, and played a most important part in 
breaking down wire entanglements and rounding up the machine 
gun nests. The part played in this battle by the Canadian corps 
was conspicuous, and it especially distinguished itself by the capture 
of Courcelette. Although the battles which the Canadian corps 
took part in subsequently were almost invariably both successful 
and important, they can be merely mentioned here. The Canadian 
corps now known everywhere to consist of shock troops second 
to none on the western front, was frequently used as the spearhead 
with which to pierce particularly tough parts of the enemy defenses. 

On April 9th to 13th, 1917, the Canadian corps, with some 
British support, captured Vimy Ridge, a point which had hitherto 
proved im^lnerable. When a year later, the Germans, north and 
south, swept the British fine to one side in gigantic thrusts they 
were unable to disturb this key point, Vimy Ridge, which served 
as an anchor to the sagging line. The Canadian corps was engaged 
at Arleux and Fresnoy in April and May and was effective in the 
operations around Lens in June. Again on August 15th, it was 
engaged at Hill 70 and fought with conspicuous success in that 
toughest, most difficult, and most heart-breaking of all battles — 
Passchendaele. 



394 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR 

In 1918, the Canadian Cavalry Brigade won distinction in 
the German offensive of March and April. On August 12, 1918, 
the Canadian corps was engaged in the brilliantly successful 
battle of Amiens, which completely upset the German offensive 
plan. On August 26th to 28th the Canadians captured Monchy- 
le-Preux, and, in one of the hammer blows which Foch rained on the 
German front, were given the most difficult piece of the whole line 
to pierce — the Queant-Drocourt line. This section of the famous 
Hindenburg line was considered by the enemy to be absolutely 
impregnable, but was captured by the Canadians on September 
3d and 4th. With this hne outflanked a vast German retreat began, 
which ended on November 11th with the signing of the armistice. 

To the Canadians fell the honors of breaking through the 
first Hindenbm'g line by the capture of Cambrai, on October 1st to 
9th. They also took Douai on October 19th, and Dena on October. 
20th. On October 26th to November 2d they had the signal honor of 
capturing Valenciennes thereby being the first troops to break 
through the fom'th and last Hindenberg line. 

It surely was a curious coincidence that Mons, from which 
the original British army — the best trained, it is said, that has 
taken the field since the time of Caesar — began its retreat in 1914, 
should have been the town which Canadian civilians were destined 
to recaptm-e. The war began for the professional British army — 
the Contemptibles — when it began its retreat from Mons in 1914; 
the war ended for the British army at the very same town four 
years and three months later, when on the day the armistice was 
signed the men from Canada re-entered it. Was it coincidence, or 
was it fate? 

During the war Canadian troops had sustained 211,000 
casualties, 152,000 had been wounded and more than 50,000 had 
made the supreme sacrifice. Put into different language this nieans 
that the number of Canadians killed was just a little greater than 
the total number of infantrymen in their corps of four divisions. 

The extent of the work involved in the care of the wounded 
and sick of the Canadians overseas may be gathered from the fact 
that Canada equipped and sent across the Atlantic, 7 general 
hospitals, 10 stationary hospitals, 16 field am.bulances, 3 sanitary 
sections, 4 casualty clearing stations and advanced and base depots 
of medical stores: The personnel of these medical units consisted 



CANADA'S PART IN THE GREAT WAR 395 




FROM THE VOSGES MOUNTAINS TO YPRES 

Map showing the Northeastern frontiers of France, and neutral Belgium 
through which the German armies poured in 1914. The battle line held 
straight from Belfort to Verdun, with the exception of the St. Mihiel salient. 
Above Verdun the line veered to the west, north of Rheims, marking a wide 
curve toward St. Quentin and Arras and bending back to Ypres, held by the 
Canadians throughout the war. 



396 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR 

of 1,612 officers, 1,994 nursing sisters and 12,382 of other ranks, or 
a total of about 16,000. This will give some conception of the 
importance of the task involved in the caring for the sick and 
wounded of about 90,000 fighting troops, some 60,000 auxiliary- 
troops behind the Hues and the reserve depots in England. 

The work of the Canadian Red Cross Society included the 
building and equipping of auxihary hospitals to those of the Cana- 
dian Army Medical Corps; providing of extra and emergency stores 
of all kinds, recreation huts, ambulances and lorries, drugs, serums 
and surgical equipment calculated to make hospitals more efficient ; 
the looking after the comfort of patients in hospitals providing 
recreation and entertainment to the wounded, and dispatching 
regularly to every Canadian prisoner parcels of food, as well as 
clothes, books and other necessaries: The Canadian Red Cross 
expended on goods for prisoners in 1917 nearly $800,000. 

In all the Canadian Red Cross distributed since the beginning 
of the war to November 23, 1918, $7,631,100. 

The approximate total of voluntary contributions from 
Canada for war purposes was over $90,000,000. 

The following figures quoted from tables issued by the Depart- 
ment of Public Information at Ottawa, show the exports in certain 
Canadian commodities, having a direct bearing on the war for the 
last three fiscal years before the war (1912-13-14), and for the 
last fiscal year (1918); and illustrates the increase, during this 
period, in the value of these articles exported: 

VALUES 

Average for 1912-1913-1914 1918 

Foodstuffs $143,133,374 $617,515,690 

Clothing, metals, leather, etc 45,822,717 215,873,357 

Total $188,956,091 $833,389,047 

As practically all of the increase of food and other materials 
went to Great Britain, France and Italy, the extent of Canada's 
effort in upholding the allied cause is clearly evident and was by no 
means a small one. 

The trade of Canada for 1914 was one billion dollars; for 
the fiscal year of 1917-18 it was two and one-half bilHon dollars. 

Approximately 60,000,000 shells were made in Canada during 
the war. Shortly after the outbreak of hostilities a shell com- 



CANADA'S PART IN THE GREAT WAR 397 

niittee was formed in Canada to really act as an agent for the 
British war office in placing contracts. The first shells were 
shipped in December, 1914, and by the end of May, 1915, approxi- 
mately 400 establishments were manufacturing shells in Canada. 
By November, 1915, orders had been placed by the Imperial Gov- 
ernment to the value of $300,000,000, and an Imperial Munitions 
Board, replacing the shell committee, v/as formed, directly 
responsible to the Imperial Mmistry of Munitions. 

During the war period Canada purchased from her bank 
savings $1,669,381,000 of Canadian war loans. 

Estimates of expenditures for the fiscal year ending March 
31, 1919, demonstrated the thoroughness with which Canada went 
to war. They follow: 



Pay of 110,000 troops in Canada and 
290,000 in England and France . . . 

Assigned pay, overseas troops 

Separation allowances 

Rations, Canada, 60 cents per day; 
England, 38 J^ cents per day 

Clothing and necessaries 

Outfit allowances, officers and nurses . . 

Equipment, including harness, vehicles, 
tents, blankets, but not rifles, 
machine guns, etc 

Ordnance service 

Medical services 

Ammunition 

Machine guns 

Ocean transport 

Railway transport 

Forage 

Veterinary service, remounts 

Engineer works, housing 

Civilian employese 

Sundries, including recruiting, censors, 
customs dues, etc 

Overseas printing and stationery 

General expenses overseas 

Maintenance of troops in France at 
9s. 4d. each per day 



Expenditure 


Expenditure 


Total 


in Canada. 


Overseas. 


Expenditures. 


$50,187,500 


$70,312,500 


$120,500,000 


64,000,000 




54,000,000 


21,750,000 


6,000,000 


27,750,000 


20,075,000 


21,000,000 


41,075,000 


19,080,000 




19,080,000 


1,000,000 


700,000 


1,700,000 


20,000,000 




20,000,000 




1,800,000 


1,800,000 


5,000,000 




6,000,000 


6,000,000 




6,000,000 


2,000,000 




2,000,000 


4,612,500 




4,612,500 


11,062,500 


450,000 


11,512,600 


450,000 




450,000 




3,000,000 


3,000,000 


2,750,000 


1,250,000 


4,000,000 


2,920,000 


750,000 


3,670,000 


3,000,000 




3,000,000 




300,000 


300,000 




1,800,000 


1,800,000 




115,000,000 


115,000,000 


$217,887,500 


$225,162,500 


$443,050,000 




CHAPTER XXVI 

Immortal Verdun 

'RANGE was revealed to herself, to Germany and to the 
world as the heroic defender of civilization, as a defender 
defying death in the victory of Verdun. There, with the 
gateway to Paris lying open at its back, the French army, 
in the longest pitched battle in all history, held like a cold blue 
rock against the uttermost man power and resources of the German 
army. 

General von Falkenhayn, Chief of the German General Staff 
and miUtary dictator of the Teutonic allies, there met disaster and 
disgrace. There the mettle of the Crown Prince was tested and he 
was found to be merely a thing of straw, a weak creature whose 
mind was under the domination of von Falkenhayn. 

For the tremendous offensive which was planned to end the 
war by one terrific thrust, von Falkenhayn had robbed all the 
other fronts of effective men and munitions. Field Marshal von 
Hindenburg and his crafty Chief of Staff, General Ludendorf, had 
planned a campaign against Russia designed to put that tottering 
military Colossus out of the war. The plans were upon a scale 
that might well have proved successful. The Kaiser, influenced 
by the Crown Prince and by von Falkenhajni, decreed that the 
Russian campaign must be postponed and that von Hindenburg 
must send his crack troops to join the army of the Crown Prince 
fronting Verdun. Ludendorf promptly resigned as Chief of Staff 
to von Hindenburg and suggested that the Field Marshal also 
resign. That grim old warrior dechned to take this action, pre- 
ferring to remain idle in East Prussia and watch what he predicted 
would be a useless effort on the western front. His warning to the 
General Staff was explicit, but von Falkenhayn coolly ignored the 
message. 

Why did Germany select this particular point for its grand 
offensive? The answer is to be found in a demand made by the 
great Junker associations of Germany in May, 1915, nine months 

398 



IMMORTAL VERDUN 



399 




IMMORTAL VERDUN, WHERE THE FRENCH HELD THE GERMANS WITH 
THE mSPHtlNG SLOGAN "THEY SHALL NOT PASS" 



400 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR 

before the attack was undertaken. That demand was to the effect 
that Verdun should be attacked and captured. They declared that 
the Verdun fortifications made a menacing salient thrust into the 
rich iron fields of the Briey basin. From this metalliferous field 
of Lorraine came the ore that suppHed eighty per cent of the steel 
required for German and Austrian guns and munitions. These 
fields of Briey were only twenty miles from the great guns of Verdun. 
They were French territory at the beginning of the war and had 
been seized by the army of the Crown Prince, co-operating with the 
Army of Metz because of their immense value to the Germans in 
war making. 

As a preliminary to the battle, von Falkenhayn placed a 
semicircle of huge howitzers and rifles around the field of Briey. 
Then assembling the vast forces drained from all the fronts and 
having erected ammunition dumps covering many acres, the great 
battle commenced with a surprise attack upon the village of Hau- 
mont on February 21, 1916. 

The first victory of the Germans at that point was an easy one. 
The great fort of Douaumont was the next objective. This was 
taken on February 25th after a concentrated bombardment that for 
intensity surpassed anything that heretofore had been shown in the 
war. 

Von Falkenhayn, personally superintending the disposition 
of guns and men, had now penetrated the outer defenses of Verdun. 
The tide was running against the French, and shells, more shells for 
the guns of all caliber; men, more men for the earthworks surround- 
ing the devoted city were needed. The narrow-gauge railway con- 
necting Verdun with the great French depots of supplies was totally 
inadequate for the transportation burdens suddenly cast upon it. 
In this desperate emergency a transport system was born of 
necessity, a system that saved Verdun. It was fleet upon fleet of 
motor trucks, all sizes, all styles; anything that could pack a few 
shells or a handful of men was utilized. The backbone of the 
system was a greet fleet of trucks driven by men whose average 
daily rest was four hours, and upon whose horizon-blue uniforms 
the stains of snow and sleet, of dust and mud, were indelibly fixed 
through the winter, spring, summer and fall of 1916, for the glori- 
ous engagement continued from February 21st until November 2d, 
when the Germans were forced into full retreat from the field of 



IMMORTAL VERDUN 401 

honor, the evacuation of Fort Vaux putting a period to Germany's 
disastrous plan and to von Falkenhayn's military career. 

Lord Northciiffe, describing the early days of the immortal 
battle, wrote: 

''Verdun is, in many ways, the most extraordinary of battles. 
The mass of metal used on both sides is far beyond all parallel; 
the transformation on the Douaumont Ridge was more suddenly 
dramatic than even the battle of the Marne; and, above all, the 
duration of the conflict already looks as if it would surpass any- 
thing in history. More than a month has elapsed since, by the 
kindness of General Joffre and General Petain, I was able to watch 
the struggle from various vital viewpoints. The battle had then 
been raging with great intensity for a fortnight, and, as I write, 
four to five thousand guns are still thundering round Verdun. 
Impossible, therefore, any man to describe the entire battle. 
The most one can do is to set down one's impressions of the first 
phases of a terrific conflict, the end of which cannot be fore- 
seen. 

"My chief impression is one of admiration for the subtle 
powers of mind of the French High Command. General Joffre 
and General Castelnau are men with especially fine intellects 
tempered to terrible keenness. Always they have had to contend 
against superior numbers. In 1870, when they were subalterns, 
their country lost the advantage of its numerous population by 
abandoning general mihtary service at a time when Prussia was 
completely realizing the idea of a nation in arms. In 1914, when 
they were commanders, France was inferior to a still greater degree 
in point of numbers to Prussianized Germany. In armament, 
also, France was inferior at first to her enemy. The French High 
Command has thus been trained by adversity to do all that human 
intellect can against almost overwhelming hostile material forces. 
General Joffre, General Castelnau — and, later. General Petain, who 
at a moment's notice displaced General Herr — had to display 
genius where the Germans were exhibiting talent, and the result 
is to be seen at Verdun. They there caught the enemy in a series 
of traps of a kind hitherto unknown in modern warfare — something 
elemental, and yet subtle, neo-primitive, and befitting the atavistic 
character of the Teuton. They caught him in a web of his own 
imfulfilled boasts. 



402 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR 

''The enemy began by massing a surprising force on the 
western front. Tremendous energy and organizing power were 
the marks of his supreme efforts to obtain a decision. It was 
usually reckoned that the Germans maintain on all fronts a field 
army of about seventy-four and a half army corps, which at full 
strength number three milHon men. Yet, while holding the Rus- 
sians from Riga to the south of the Pripet Marshes, and main- 
taining a show of force in the Balkans, Germany seems to have 
succeeded in bringing up nearly two milUons and a half of men for 
her grand spring offensive in the west. At one time her forces 
in France and Flanders were only ninety divisions. But troops 
and guns were withdrawn in increasing numbers from Russia and 
Serbia in December, 1915, until there were, it is estimated, a 
hundred and eighteen divisions on the Franco-British-Belgian 
front. A large number of six-inch and twelve-inch Austrian howitz- 
ers were added to the enormous Ki'upp batteries. Then a large 
proportion of new recruits of the 1916 class were moved into Rhine- 
land depots to serve as drafts for the lifty-nine army corps, and it 
is thought that nearly all the huge shell output that had accumu- 
lated during the winter was transported westward. 

"The French Staff reckoned that Verdun would be attacked 
when the ground had dried somewhat in the March winds. It 
was thought that the enemy movement would take place against 
the British front in some of the sectors of which there were chalk 
undulations, through which the rains of winter quickly drained. 
The Germans skilfully encouraged this idea by making an apparent 
prelimiaary attack at Lihons, on a five-mile front, with rolUng 
gas-clouds and successive waves of infantry. During this feint 
the veritable offensive movement softly began on Saturday, Feb- 
ruary 19, 1916, when the enormous masses of hostile artillery west, 
east, and north of the Verdun saHent started registering on the 
French positions. Only in small numbers did the German guns 
fire, in order not to alarm their opponents. But even this trial 
bombardment by shifts was a terrible display of power, calling 
forth all the energies of the outnumbered French gunners to main- 
tain the artillery duels that continued day and night until Monday 
morning, February 21st. 

"The enemy seems to have maintained a bombardment all 
round General Herr's lines on February 21, 1916, but this general 




AMMUNITION FOR THE GUNS 

Canadian narrow-gauge line taking ammunition up the line througli a 
shattered village. 




HOW VERDUN WAS SAVED 
The motor transport never faltered when the railroads were put out of action. 




's <o a 




IMMORTAL VERDUN 405 

battering was done with a thousand pieces of field artillery. The 
grand masses of heavy howitzers were used in a different way. 
At a quarter past seven in the morning they concentrated on the 
small sector of advanced intrenchments near Brabant and the 
Meuse; twelve-mch shells fell with terrible precision every few 
yards, according to the statements made by the French troops. 
I afterwards saw a big German shell, from at least six miles distant 
from my place of observation, hit quite a small target. So I can 
well believe that, in the first bombardment of French positions, 
which had been photographed from the air and minutely measured 
and registered by the enemy gunners in the trial firing, the great, 
destructive shots went home with extraordinary effect. The 
trenches were, not bombarded — they were obhterated. In each 
small sector of the six-mile northward bulge of the Verdun saHent 
the work of destruction was done with surprising quickness. 

"After the fine from Brabant to Haumont was smashed, the 
main fire power was directed against the other end of the bow at 
Herbebois, Ornes, and Maucourt. Then when both, ends of the 
bow were severely hammered, the central point of the Verdun 
salient, Caures Woods, was smothered in shells of all sizes, poured 
in from east, north and west. In this manner almost the whole 
enormous force of heavy artillery was centered upon mile after 
mile of the French front. When the great guns Hfted over the fines 
of craters, the fighter field artillery, placed row after row in front 
of the wreckage, maintained an unending fire curtain over the com- 
municating saps and support intrenchments. 

"Then came the second surprising feature in the new German 
system of attack. No waves of storming infantry swept into the 
battered works. Only strong patrols at first came cautiously 
forward, to discover if it were safe for the main body of troops to 
advance and reorganize the French fine so as to aUow the artillery 
to move onward. There was thus a large element of truth in the 
marvelous tales afterwards told by German prisoners. Their 
commanders thought it would be possible to do all the fighting 
with long-range artillery, leaving the infantry to act as squatters 
to the great guns, and occupy and rebuild fine after fine of the 
French defenses without any serious hand-to-hand struggles. All 
they had to do was to protect the gunners from surprise attack, 
while the guns made an easy path for them. 



406 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR 

"But, ingenious as was this scheme for saving the man-power 
of Germany by an unparalleled expenditure of shell, it required 
for full success the co-operation of the French troops. But the 
French did not co-operate. Their High Command had continually 
improved their system of trench defense in accordance with the 
experiences of their own hurricane bombardments in Champagne 
and the Carency sector. General Castelnau, the acting Com- 
mander-in-Chief on the French front, was indeed the inventor 
of hurricane fire tactics, which he had used for the first time in 
February, 1915, in Champagne. When General Joffre took over 
the conduct of all French operations, leaving to General Castelnau 
the immediate control of the front in France, the victor of the battle 
of Nancy weakened his advance lines and then his support Hues, 
until his troops actually engaged in fighting were very little more 
that a thin covering body, such as is thrown out towards the fron- 
tier while the main forces connect well behind. 

"We shall see the strategical effect of this extraordinary meas- 
ure in the second phase of the Verdun battle, but its tactical effect 
was to leave remarkably few French troops exposed to the appaUing 
tempest of German and Austrian shells. The fire-trench was 
almost empty, and in many cases the real defenders of the French 
line were men with machine guns, hidden in dug-outs at some dis- 
tance from the photographed positions at which the German gun- 
ners aimed. ^ The batteries of light guns, which the French handled 
with the flexibihty and continuity of fire of' Maxims, were also 
concealed in widely scattered positions. The main damage caused 
by the first intense bombardment was the destruction of all the 
telephone wires along the French front. In one hour the German 
guns plowed up every yard of ground behind the observing posts 
and behind the fire trench. Communications could only be slowly 
re-estabhshed by messengers, so that many parties of men had to 
fight on their own initiative, with little or no combination of effort 
with their comrades. 

"Yet, desperate as were their circumstances, they broke 
down the German plan for capturing trenches without an infantry 
attack. They caught the patrols and annihilated them, and then 
swept back the disillusioned and reluctant main bodies of German 
troops. First, the bombing parties were felled, then the sappers as 
they came forward to repair the line for their infantry, and at last 



IMMORTAL VERDUN 407 

the infantry itself in wave after wave of field-gray. The small 
French garrison of every center of resistance fought with cool, 
deadly courage, and often to the death. 

"Artillery fire was practically useless against them, for though 
their tunnel shelters were sometimes blown in by the twelve-inch 
shells, which they regarded as their special terror by reason of 
their penetrative power and wide blast, even the Germans had not 
sufficient shells to search out all their underground chambers, 
every one of which have two or three exits. 

"The new organization of the French Machine-gun Corps 
was a fine factor in the eventual success. One gun fired ten 
thousand rounds daily for a week, most of the positions selected 
being spots from which each German infantry advance would be 
enfiladed and shattered. Then the French 75 's which had been 
masked during the overwhelming fire of the enemy howitzers, 
came unexpectedly into action when the German infantry attacks 
increased in strength. Near Haumont, for example, eight succes- 
sive furious assaults were repulsed by three batteries of 75 's. One 
battery was then spotted by the Austrian twelve-inch guns, but 
it remained in action until all its ammunition was exhausted. The 
gunners then blew up their guns and retired, with the loss of only 
one man. 

"Von Falkenhayn had uicreased the Crown Prince's army from 
the fourteen divisions- — that battled to Bouaumont Fort — to 
twenty-five divisions. In April he added five more divisions to 
the forces around Verdun by weakening the effectives in other 
sectors and drav>^ing more troops from the Russian front. It was 
rumored that von Hindenburg was growing restive and complaining 
that the wastage at Verdun would tell against the success of the 
campaign on the Riga-Dvinsk front, which was to open when the 
Baltic ice melted. 

"Great as was the wastage of fife, it was in no way iromediately 
decisive. But when the expenditure of shells almost outran the 
highest speed of production of the German munition factories, 
and the wear on the guns was more than Krupp and Skoda could 
make good, there was danger to the enemy in beginning another 
great offensive likely to overtax his shellmakers and gunmakers." 

Immortal and indomitable France had won over her foe more 
power than she had possessed even after the battle of the Marne. 



40B HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR 

Throughout the entire summer Verdun, with the whole popu- 
lation of France roused to the supreme heights of heroism behind 
it, held like a rock. Wave after wave of Germans in gray-green 
lines were sent against the twenty-five miles of earthworks, while 
the French guns took their toll of the crack German regiments. 
German dead lay upon the field until the exposed flesh became the 
same ghastly hue of their uniforms. No Man's Land around Verdun 
was a waste and a stench. 

General Joffre's plan was very simple. It was to hold out. 
As was afterwards revealed, much to the satisfaction of the French 
people. Sir Douglas Haig had placed himself completely at the 
service of the French Commander-in-Chief, and had suggested 
that he should use the British army to weaken the thrust at Verdun. 
But General Joffre had refused the proffered help. No man Imew 
better than he what his country, with its exceedingly low birth- 
rate, was suffering on the Meuse. He had but to send a telegram 
to British Headquarters, and a million Britons, with thousands of 
heavy guns, would fling themselves upon the German fines and 
compel Falkenhayn to divide his shell output, his heavy artiUery, 
and his milfions of men between Verdun and the Somme. But 
General Joffre, instead of sending the telegram in question, merely 
dispatched officers to British Headquarters to assure and calm the 
chafing Scotsman commanding the military forces of the British 
Empire. 

Throughout that long Summer the battle cry of Verdun, 
''Ne passeront pas!'' ("They shall not pass!"), was an inspiration to 
the French army and to the world. Then as autumn drifted its 
red fofiage over the heights surrounding the bloody field, the 
French struck back. General Nivelle, who had taken command at 
Verdun under Joffre, commenced a series of attacks and a per- 
sistent pressure against the German forces on both sides of the 
Meuse. These thrusts culminated in a sudden sweeping attack 
which, on October 24th, resulted in the recapture by Nivelle's 
forces of Fort Douaumont and, on November 2d, in the recapture 
of Fort Vaux. 

Thus ended in glory the most inspiring battle in the long and 
splendid history of France. 




CHAPTER XXVIl 

MXJEDERS AND MaRTYKS 

ANY examples might be cited to show that the Central 
empires were dead to the humanities. There were ap- 
parently no limits to the brutaUty of the German war- 
makers. Among the outstanding deeds of the Teutons 
that sickened the world was the kilHng of Miss Edith Cavell, an 
EngUsh nurse working in Belgian hospitals. 

A shudder of horror circled the world when announcement was 
formally made that this splendid woman was sentenced to death 
and murdered by a German firing squad at two o'clock on the 
morning of October 12, 1915. 

The killing of this gentle-natured, brave woman typified to the 
world Germany's essentially brutal militarism. It placed the 
German military command in a niche of dishonor unique in all 
history. 

The specific charge against Miss Cavell was that she had 
helped English and French soldiers and Belgian young male civilians 
to cross the border into Holland. The direct evidence against her 
was in the form of letters intercepted by the Germans in which some 
of these soldiers and civilians writing from England thanked her 
for the aid she had given to them. 

Upon the farcical trial that resulted in the predetermined 
sentence of death, Miss Cavell courageously and freely admitted her 
assistance in the specified cases of escape. When she was asked 
why she did it, she declared her fear that if she had not done so 
the men would have been shot by the Germans. Her testimony 
was given in a clear conversational tone that betrayed no nervous- 
ness and her entire bearing was such as to win the sympathy of 
everyone except her stony-hearted judges. 

The German officers in command at Brussels made it impossible 
for Miss Cavell to see counsel before the trial, and a number of 
able lawyers who were solicited to undertake her defense declined 
to do so because of their fear of the Germans. 

4m 



410 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR 

Sentence was imposed upon her at five o'clock on the afternoon 
of October 11th. In accordance with its terms, she was taken from 
her cell and placed against a blank wall at two o'clock the following 
morning — the darkness of the hour vying with the blackness of the 
deed. Mr. Gahan, the Enghsh clergyman connected with the 
prison, was permitted to see her a short time before her murder. 
He gave her Holy Communion at ten o'clock on the night of October 
11th. To him she declared she was happy in her contemplation 
of death; that she had no regret for what she had done; and that 
she was glad to die for her country. 

Brand Whitlock, American Minister to Belgium, and Hugh 
Gibson, Secretary of the Legation, did all that was humanly possible 
to avert the crime, but without avail. They were told that, "the 
Emperor himself could not intervene." 

Defending the m^urder. Dr. Alfred Zimmermann, German 
Under Secretary for Foreign Affairs, callously_disposed of the 
matter thus: 

''I see from the English and American press that the shooting 
of an Englishwoman and the condemnation of several other women 
in Brussels for treason has caused a sensation, and capital against 
us is being made out of the fact. Men and women are equal 
before the law, and only the degree of guilt makes a difference in the 
sentence for the crime and its consequences." 

Monuments to Edith Cavell were reared in widely scattered 
communities. A mountain was named in her honor. Her murder 
multiplied enlistments and fed the fires of patriotism throughout 
the AUied countries. In the end, Germany lost heavily. The 
Teutons aimed to strike terror into the hearts of men and women. 
They only succeeded in arousing a righteous anger that ultimately 
destroyed the Imperial government. 

Another instance equally flagrant of the utter callousness of 
the men who at that time ruled Germany, was the murder of 
Captain Fryatt, a gallant British seaman, who had dared to 
attack the pirates of the under-seas. 

Captain Charles Fryatt was the master of the steamship 
Brussels, a merchant vessel owned by the Great Eastern Railway. 
It was captured by the Germans on June 23, 1916. Captain 
Fryatt was taken to Zeebrugge. A court-martial went through 
the motions of a trial at Bruges on July 27th. The charge against 



MURDERS AND MARTYRS 411 

Captain Fryatt was that of attempting to ram the German sub- 
marine U-33. 

Mute testimony against Captain Fryatt was a gold watch 
found upon his person. This carried an inscription testifying 
that the watch had been presented by the mayor and people of 
Harwich in recognition of the Captain's bravery in attempting to 
ram a submarine, and his successful escape when the U-boat called 
upon him to surrender. 

The prisoners who were captured with Captain Fryatt were 
sent to the prison camp at Ruhlaben, but Captain Fryatt was 
condemned to death as a "franc-tireur." The news of the murder 
was sent to the world through a German communique dated July 
28th. It stated: 

The accused was condemned to death because, although he was not a 
member of a combatant force, he made an attempt on the afternoon of 
March 20, 1915, to ram the German submarine U-33 near the Maas 
lightship. The accused, as well as the first ofiicer and the chief engineer of 
the steamer, received at the time from the British Admiralty a gold watch 
as a reward of his brave conduct on that occasion, and his action was 
mentioned with praise in the House of Commons. 

On the occasion in question, disregarding the U-boat's signal to stop 
and show his national flag, he turned at a critical moment at high speed on 
the submarine, which escaped the steamer by a few meters only by imme- 
diately diving. He confessed that iq so doing he had acted in accordance 
with the instructions of the Admiralty. One of the many nefarious 
franc-tireur proceedings of the British merchant marine against our war 
vessels has thus found a belated but merited expiation. 

This brutal action by Germany coming after the murder of 
Edith Cavell created intense indignation throughout the world. 
It ranked with the poison gas at Ypres, the Lusitania, the Belgian 
atrocities, the killing of Edith Cavell and the unrestricted submarine 
sinkings, as a factor in arousing the democratic peoples of the 
world to a fighting pitch. 

Germany sowed its seeds of destruction in the wind that bore 
the fmnes of poison gas, and in the ruthless brutaHty that decreed 
the sinking of the Lusitania and the murders of Edith Cavell and 
Captain Fryatt. 

It reaped the whirlwind in the world-wide wrath that brought 
America into the war, and that visited disgrace and defeat upon 
the German Empire. 



CHAPTER XXVIII 
The Second Battle of Ypres 

FIRST to feel the effects of German terrorism through poison 
gas were the gallant Canadian troops on the afternoon of 
April 22, 1915, at Ypres, Belgium. Gas had been used by 
the Germans previously to this, but they were mere experi- 
mental clouds directed against Belgian troops. 

Before the battle, the Enghsh and Canadians held a line from 
Broodseinde to half a mile north of St. Julien on the crest of the 
Graf ens taf el Ridge. The French prolonged the line to Steenstraate 
on the Yperlee Canal. The Germans originally planned the 
attack for Tuesday, April 20th, but with satanic ingenuity the 
offensive was postponed until between 4 and 5 o'clock on the 
afternoon of Thursday, the 22d. During the morning the wind 
blew steadily from the north and the scientists attached to the 
German Field Headquarters predicted that the strong wind would 
continue at least twelve hours longer. 

The Canadian division held a line extending about five miles 
from the Ypres-Roulers Railway to the Ypres-Poelcapelle road. 
The division consisted of three infantry brigades, in addition to the 
artillery brigades. Upon this unsuspecting body of men the poison 
fumes were projected by means of pipes and force pumps. The 
immediate consequences were that the asphyxiating gas of great 
intensity rendered immediately helpless thousands of men. The 
same gas attack that was projected upon the Canadians also fell 
with murderous effect upon the French. The consequences were 
that the French division on the left of the Canadians gave way and 
the Third brigade of the Canadian division, so far as the ^-sft was 
concerned, was ''up in the air," to use the phrase of its commanding 
officer. 

It became necessary for Brigadier-General Turner, commanding 
the Third brigade, to throw back his left flank southward to protect 
his rear. This caused great confusion, and the enemy, advancing 
rapidly, took a number of guns and many prisoners, penetrating to 

412 



THE SECOND BATTLE OF YPRES 413 

the village of St. Julien, two miles in the rear of the original French 
trenches. The Canadians fought heroically, although greatly 
outnumbered and pounded by artillery that inflicted tremendous 
losses. The Germans, as they came through the gas clouds, were 
protected by masks moistened with a solution containing bi-car- 
bonate of soda. 

The tactics of General Tiu-ner off-set the numerical superiority 
of the enemy, and prevented a disastrous rout. General Curry, 
commanding the Second brigade of Canadians, repeated this 
successful maneuver when he flung his left flank southward and, 
presenting two fronts to the enemy, held his line of trenches from 
Thursday at 5 o'clock until Sunday afternoon. The reason the 
trenches were held no longer than Sunday afternoon was that they 
had been obliterated by heavy artillery fire. The Germans finally 
succeeded in capturing a line, the forward point of which was the 
village of St. Juhen. Reinforcements under General Alderson had 
come up by this time and the enemy's advance was suddenly 
checked. Enemy attacks upon the line running from Ypres to 
Passchendaele completely broke down under the withering fire of the 
reinforced and re-formed artillery and infantry brigades. The 
record officer of the Canadians makes this comment of the detailed 
fighting: 

The story of the second battle of Ypres is the story of how 
the Canadian division, enormously outnumbered — for they had in 
front of them at least four divisions, supported by inamensely heavy 
artillery, with a gap still existing, though reduced, in their lines, 
and with dispositions made hurriedly under the stimulus of critical 
danger, fought through the day and through the night, and then 
through another day and night; fought under their officers until, as 
happened to so many, those perished gloriously, and then fought 
from the impulsion of sheer valor because they came from fighting 
stock. 

The enemy, of course, was aware — whether fully or not may 
perhaps be doubted — of the advantage his breach in the Une had 
given him, and inmiediately began to push a formidable series of 
attacks upon the whole of the newly-formed Canadian salient. 
The attack was everywhere fierce, but developed with particular 
intensity at this moment upon the apex of the newly-formed line, 
running in the direction of St. JuUen. 

23 



414 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR 

It has already been stated that some British guns were taken 
in a wood comparatively early in the evening of the 22d. In the 
course of that night, and under the heaviest machine-gun fire, this 
wood was assaulted by the Canadian Scottish, Sixteenth battalion 
of the Third brigade, and the Tenth battaUon of the Second brigade, 
which was intercepted for this piu-pose on its way to a reserve trench. 
The battaUons were respectively commanded by Lieutenant-Colonel 
Leckie and Lieutenant-Colonel Boyle, and after a most fierce strug- 
gle in the hght of a misty moon they took the position at the point 
of the bayonet. At midnight the Second battahon, under Colonel 
Watson, and the Toronto regiment, Queen's Own, Third battalion, 
under Lieutenant-Colonel Rennie, both of the First brigade, brought 
up much -needed reinforcement, and though not actually engaged in 
the assault, were in reserve. 

All through the following days and nights these battalions 
shared the fortunes and misfortunes of the Third brigade. An 
officer who took part in the attack describes how the men about 
him fell under the fire of the machine guns, which, in his phrase, 
played upon them ''hke a watering pot." He added quite simply 
'T wrote my own fife off." But the fine never wavered. When 
one man fell another took his place, and with a final shout the 
survivors of the two battalions flung themselves into the wood. The 
German garrison was completely demoralized, and the impetuous 
advance of the Canadians did not cease until they reached the far 
side of the wood and intrenched themselves there in the position 
so dearly gamed. They had, however, the disappointment of 
finding that the guns had been blown up by the enemy, and later 
on in the same night a most formidable concentration of artillery 
fire, sweeping the wood as a tropical storm sweeps the leaves from a 
forest, made it impossible for them to hold the position for which 
they had sacrificed so much. 

The fighting continued without intermission all through the 
night, and, to those who observed the indications that the attack 
was being pushed with ever-growing strength, it hardly seemed 
possible that the Canadians, fighting in positions so difficult to 
defend and so Uttle the subject of dehberate choice, could maintain 
their resistance for any long period. At 6 a. m. on Friday it became 
apparent that the left was becoming more and more involved, and 
a powerful German attempt to outflank it developed rapidly. The 



THE SECOND BATTLE OF YPRES 



415 



consequences, if it had been broken or outflanked, need not be 
insisted upon. They were not merely local. 

It was there decided, formidable as the attempt undoubt- 
edly was, to try and give relief by a counter-attack upon the first 




The Town of Ypees is Full op Memoeies for the Canadians 



line of German trenches, now far, far advanced from those originally 
occupied by the French. This was carried out by the Ontario 
First and Fourth battalions of the First brigade, under Brigadier- 
General Mercer, acting in combination with a British brigade. 
It is safe to say that the youngest private in the rank, as he 



416 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR 

set his teeth for the advance, knew the task in front of him, and 
the youngest subaltern knew all that rested upon its success. It 
did not seem that any human being could Uve in the shower of shot 
and shell which began to play upon the advancing troops. They 
suffered terrible casualties. For a short time every other man 
seemed to fall, but the attack was pressed ever closer and closer. 

The Fourth Canadian battalion at one moment came under a 
particularly withering fire. For a moment — not more — it wavered. 
Its most gallant commanding officer, Lieutenant-Colonel Burchill, 
carrying, after an old fashion, a light cane, coolly and cheerfully 
ralHed his men and, at the very moment when his example had in- 
fected them, fell dead at the head of his battalion. With a hoarse cry 
of anger they sprang forward (for, indeed they loved him), as if to 
avenge his death. The astonishing attack which followed — pushed 
home in the face of direct frontal fire made in broad daylight by bat- 
talions whose names should live forever in the memories of soldiers 
— was carried to the front fine of the German trenches. After a 
hand-to-hand struggle the last German who resisted was bayoneted, 
and the trench was won. 

The measure of this success may be taken when it is pointed 
out that this trench represented in the German advance the apex 
in the breach w^hich the enemy had made in the original line of the 
Alhes, and that it was two and a half miles south of that line. 
This charge, made by men who looked death indifferently in the 
face (for no man who took part in it could think that he was likely 
to live) saved, and that was much, the Canadian left. But it did 
more. Up to the point where the assailants conquered, or died, it 
secured and maintained during the most critical moment of all the 
integrity of the allied line. For the trench was not only taken, it 
was held thereafter against all comers, and in the teeth of every 
conceivable projectile, until the night of Sunday, the 25th, when all 
that remained of the war-broken but victorious battalion was 
relieved by fresh troops. 




CHAPTER XXIX 

Zeppelin Raids on France and England 

^HE idea of warfare in the air has been a dream of romancers 
from a period long before Jules Verne. Indeed, balloons 
were used for observation purposes in the eighteenth century 
by the French armies. The crude balloon of that period, in a 
more developed form, was used in the Franco-Prussian War, and 
during the siege of Paris by its assistance communication was 
kept up between Paris and the outside world. Realizing its possi- 
bilities inventors had been trying to develop a balloon which could 
be propelled against the wind and so guided that explosives could 
be dropped upon a hostile army. Partially successful dirigible 
balloons have been occasionally exhibited for a number of years. 

The idea of such a balloon took a strong hold upon the imagina- 
tion of the German army staff long before the Great War, and 
Count Ferdinand Zeppehn gave the best years of his life to its 
development. From the beginning he met with great difficulties. 
His first ships proved mechanical failures, and after these diffi- 
culties were overcome he met with a series of accidents which 
almost put an end to his efforts. By popular subscription, and by 
government support, he was able to continue, and when the war 
began Germany had thirty-five dirigible balloons of the Zeppelin 
and other types, many of them as much as 490 feet long. 

The Zeppelin balloon, called the Zeppelin from the name of 
its inventor, was practically a vast ship, capable of carrying a 
load of about fifteen thousand pounds. It would carry a crew of 
twenty men or more, fuel for the engines, provisions, a wireless 
installation, and armament with anamunition. For a journey of 
twenty hours such a vessel would need at least seven thousand 
pounds of fuel. It would probably be able to carry about two 
tons of explosives. These Zeppelins could travel great distances. 
Before the war one of them flew from Lake Constance to Berlin, 
a continuous flight of about one thousand miles, in thirty-one 
hours 

417 



418 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR 

These great aerial warships were given a thorough trial by 
the Germans. They disliked to admit that they had made a costly 
mistake in adding them to their armament. It soon turned out, 
however, that the Zeppelins were practically useless in battle. 
Whatever they could do, either for scouting purposes or in dropping 
explosives behind the enemy's Hues, could be better done by the 
airplane. The French and the English, who before the war had 
decided that the airplane was the more important weapon, were 
right. But the Germans did not give up their costly toy so easily, 
and they determined to use it in the bombardment of cities and 
districts situated far away from the German line, in dropping bombs, 
not upon fortifications, or armed camps where they might meet with 
resistance, but upon peaceful non-belligerents in the streets of 
great unfortified cities. 

It was their policy of frightfulness once again. And once 
again they had made a mistake. The varied expeditions of the 
Zeppelin airships sent from Germany to bombard Paris, or to 
cross the Channel and, after dropping bombs on seaside resorts, 
to wander over the city of London in the hope of spreading destruc- 
tion there, did Httle real damage and their net effects, from a mili- 
tary point of view, were practically nil. 

The first Zeppelin raid upon England took place on January 19, 
1915. The Zeppelins passed over the cities of Yarmouth, Cromer, 
Sherringham and King's Lynn. On this expedition there were 
two ZeppeHns. They reached the coast of Norfolk about 8.30 in 
the evening and then steered northwest across the country toward 
King's Lynn, dropping bombs as they went. In these towns there 
were no mihtary stations and the damage suffered was very slight. 
Nine persons were killed, all civilians. This raid was followed by 
many others, which at first usually wasted their ammunition, 
dropping their bombs on small country towns or in empty fields. 

On the 31st of May an expedition reached London and killed 
six persons in the east end. The result of this raid was to stir the 
English to intense indignation. Mobs gathered in the London 
streets, and persons suspected of being Germans, or with German 
sympathies, were attacked. Other raids followed, none of them 
doing serious mihtary damage, but usually killing or wounding 
innocent non-combatants. The stupid policy of secrecy which 
they maintained during the first year of the war unfortunately 



ZEPPELIN RAIDS 419 

permitted great exaggeration of the real damages which they had 
suffered. 

During the first year, according to Mr. Balfour, in eighteen 
ZeppeHn raids there were only seventy-one civilian adults and 
eighteen children killed, one hundred and eighty-nine civihan 
adults and thirty-one children wounded. No soldier or sailor 
was killed and only seven wounded. 

In France similar attacks had been made on Paris and Calais. 
On the 20th of March two Zeppelins dropped bombs on Paris, 
but Paris, unlike London, was a fortified city, and the sky soldiers 
were driven off by the anti-aircraft guns. The French also devised 
an efficient method of defense. On the appearance of an airship 
great searchlights flashed into the air and the enemy was made at 
once a target, not only for the guns of all the forts, but also for 
airplane attack. In order to attack successfully a Zeppelin it was 
necessary that an airplane should attain a position above the 
enemy. For an airplane to rise to such a height time was required, 
as the airplane rises slowly. The French, therefore, devised a scheme 
by which two or more airplanes were kept constantly circling at a 
very great height above the city. Relays were formed which 
relieved each other at regular intervals. When an airship 
approached it would therefore be compelled in the first place to 
pass through the fire of the guns on the great forts, and then would 
find in the air above airplanes in waiting. The Germans, there- 
fore, practically gave up attacks upon Paris. They were dangerous. 

London, practically unarmed, seemed to them an easy mark. 
But the British Lion was now awake. The English had been 
taken by surprise. They attempted at first, in an unorganized 
v/ay, to protect their city, and, though occasionally successful in 
destroying an airship through the gallantry of some individual 
hero, they soon found that their defense must be organized, and 
Admiral Sir Percy Scott was entrusted with the task. Lights were 
extinguished on the streets and screened on the water front. 
Illumination for advertising purposes was forbidden; windows 
were covered, so that London became at night a mass of gloom. 
The Zeppelins, compelled to fly at a very great height, because of 
anti-aircraft guns, were blinded. As in Paris airplanes were con- 
stantly kept on the alert and searchlights and anti-airship guns 
placed at every convenient point. 



420 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR 

The suggestion was made that the English should undertake 
reprisals, but the suggestion was strongly opposed on the ground 
that the British should not be a ''party to a hne of conduct con- 
demned by every right-thinking man of every civiUzed nation." 

The effect of the English improved defenses was soon obvious, 
when the German expeditions began to lose airship after airship. 
Under the new regime, when such an attack was signaled, the whole 
city immediately received warning and the sky was swept by dozens 
of searchlights. Safe retreats were ready for those who cared to 
use them, but ordinarily the whole population rushed out to watch 
the spectacle. Airplanes would dash at the incoming foe; the 
searchlights would be switched off and the guns be silent to avoid 
hindering the aviators. Then would come the attack and Zeppehn 
after Zeppelin would be seen falHng, a great mass of flames, while 
their companions would hurry back across the Channel. Even 
there they would not be safe, for many an airship was brought 
down on English fields, or on the waters of the sea. 
■ The Germans, however, did not confine their policy of fright- 
fulness in the air to the performances of their Zeppelins. Before 
the Zeppelins had crossed the Channel their airplanes had visited 
England. On Christmas Day, 1914, an airplane attacked Dover, 
doing, however, no damage. Other au'planes also visited the British 
Isles from time to time, dropping bombs, and as the Germans 
began to lose faith in the efficacy of their Zeppehn fleets they 
began more and more to substitute airplanes for their airships. 

On some of these expeditions much more damage was done 
than had ever been done by the Zeppelins. The airplane expedi- 
tion grew serious in the year 1917; between May 23d and June 
16th of that year there were five such aerial attacks. The air- 
planes could not only move with greater speed but with better 
direction. An attack on May 25th resulted in the killing of seventy- 
six persons and the injuring of one hundred and seventy-four, 
the principal victims being women and children. This was at the 
town of Folkestone on the southeast coast. In this attack there 
were about sixteen airplanes, and the time of the attack was not 
more than three minutes. Scarcely any part of Folkestone escaped 
injury. The attack was methodically organized. Four separate 
squadrons passed over the city, following each other at short 
intervals. It was impossible to tell when the attack would end, 




^ CD Ji- O 

3 crS,^^cti -a 

(R S3"^S «> C/3 

rTh— era ^ fo 

— ;4- o) p ^ w 

?" S ^ o 

5 2 ^ !^ Ki 

'^ p 2- « 

cro o t-< 

c ^ 03 e. 2 

= 2-0 ^ 



?t p aq H 2 
p trq 5^B W 





GUARDING PARIS FROM THE HUN 

Observation post fitted with instruments for gauging the height and speed 
of enemy aircraft, a giant searchhght, a Hstening post and a "75" gun installed 
on the outskirts of Paris. 



2EPPELIN RAIDS 



423 



and people in shelters or cellars were kept waiting for hours without 
being able to feel certain that the danger had passed. 

It is probable that one of the motives of these raids was to 
keep at home fleets of Enghsh airplanes which might be more 
useful on the front. Indeed, many EngUshmen, alarmed by the 
damage, urged such a poHcy, but the good sense of the Enghsh 
leaders prevented such a mistake from being made. Pitiful as 
must have been the suffering in individual cases, the whole of the 
damage caused by the German frightfulness was but a trifle as 
compared with the usefulness of the English air-fleets when 
directly sent against the German armies. Nevertheless, every 
squadron of German airplanes sent to England was attacked by 




The Fibst German Army which Invaded France (1,200,000) would have Stretched 
FROM Paris into Russia (1,200 miles) ip Marching in Single File 

British aviators, and in those attacks the Germans suffered many 
losses. 

The worst raid of all those made was one on June 13th, which 
was directed upon the city of London. On that occasion ninety- 
seven persons were killed and four hundred and thirty-seven 
wounded. These airplane operations differed from the ZeppeHn 
expeditions in being carried on in the daytime, and this raid took 
place while the schools were in session and large numbers of people 
were in the street. Only one of the attacking airplanes was 
brought down. The raiding machines were of a new type, about 
three times the size of the ordinary machine, and there were twenty- 
two such machines in the squadron. The battle in the air was a 
striking spectacle and in spite of the danger was watched by mil- 
lions of the population. The raiders were easily seen and their 



424 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR 

flight seemed like a flight of swallows as they dived and swerved 
through the air. 

The raids on England were not the only raids conducted by the 
Germans during the war. Paris suffered, but as soon as the warn- 
ing sounded, the sky over the city was alive with defense airplanes. 
An attack on the French capital took place on the 27th of July 
and began about midnight. The German airmen, however, never 
got further than a suburban section of the city, and their bombard- 
ment caused but little damage. In one of the suburbs, however, 
a German flyer dropped four bombs on a Red Cross Hospital, 
killing two doctors, a chemist and a male nxu-se, and injuring a 
number of patients. The raider was flying low and the distinguish- 
ing marks of the hospital were plainly apparent. 

Almost every day during the bitter fighting of 1918, reports 
came in that Allied hospitals had been bombed by German raiders. 
Attacks on hospitals were, of course, strictly forbidden by the 
Hague Convention, and they caused bitter indignation. Such 
attacks were of a piece with those upon hospital ships which were 
made from time to time. From the very beginning of the war the 
Germans could not imderstand the psychology of the people of 
the AlHed countries. They were not fighting with slaves, ready 
to cower under the lash, but with free people, ready to fight for 
liberty and roused to fury by lawlessness. 



CHAPTER XXX 
Red Revolution in Russia 

THE Russian Revolution was not a sudden movement of 
the people. Long before the war it had raised its head. 
The Duma itself came into existence as one of its fruits; 
but when the war began all parties joined in patriotic 
support of the Russian armies and. laid aside for the time their 
cherished grievances. The war was immensely popular. Slavonic 
nationalism turned against Austria-Himgary and Germany who 
were bent upon crushing the Slavonic sister state, Serbia. The 
Liberal elements saw in Germany the stronghold of reaction and 
of militarism, and trusted that its downfall would be followed 
by that of Russian autocracy. But so glaring was the incapacity 
of the old regime, that a union was formed during the war by all 
the Liberal parties. This group united on the single aim of pushing 
on the war, and silently preparing for the moment when the catas- 
trophe to Czarism was to come. 

This was long before the revolution. But a conviction of 
the necessity of immediate change gradually came to all. The 
Czar himself brought matters to an issue. His vacillation, his 
appointment of ministers who were not only reactionary, but were 
suspected of being German tools, were too much for even honest 
supporters of the Imperial regime. Some of these reactionaries, 
it is true, were easily driven from power. In 1915 SukhomKnov 
and Maklakov were overthrown by the influence of the army 
and the Duma. But in 1916 the parasites came to life again. 
M. Boris Stuermer became Prime Minister, and appointed as 
Minister of the Interior the notorious Protopopov. On November 
14, 1916, Miliukov, the leader of the Constitutional Democrats, 
or Cadet Party, attacked the Premier in one of the fiercest speeches 
ever made in the Russian Duma. Stuermer was compelled to 
resign, but his successor, M. Trepov, though an honest man with 
high ambitions, was forced to retain Protopopov at the Interior. 
For a moment there was calm. But it was the calm before the storm. 

425 



426 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR 

The Russian Revolution, now recognized as the most bloody 
revolution in history, began with the assassination of a single man. 
This man was Gregory Novikh, known throughout the world 
under the name of Rasputin. A Siberian peasant by birth, immoral, 
filthy in person, untrained in mind, he had early received the nick- 
name of Rasputin, which means '' ne'er-do-well,' on account of his 
habits. A drunkard, and a libertine always, he posed as a sort of 
saint and miracle worker, let his hair grow long, and tramped 
about the world barefoot. 

Rasputin had left his district of Tobolsk and at Moscow had 
started a new cult, where mystical seances were mingled with 
debauchery. Through Madame Verubova he had been introduced 
to the Empress herself. He became the friend of Count Witte, 
of Stuermer, and Protopopov was his tool. Rumor credited him 
with exercising an extraordinary influence upon the Czarina, and 
through her upon the Czar. This influence was thought to be 
responsible for many of the Czar's unpopular poHcies. In times 
of great pubHc agitation the wildest rumors are easily taken for 
truth and the absurd legends which were easily associated with his 
name were greedily accepted by people of every rank. The influ- 
ence of Rasputin over the Imperial family was denied again and 
again. It has been said from authoritative sources that the Czar 
did not know him by sight, and that the Czarina knew him only 
as a superstitious and neurotic woman might know some fortune 
teller or other charlatan. Nevertheless the credulous public 
beheved him to be the evil spirit of the Imperial circle, and every 
false move, every unpopular act, was ascribed to his baneful influ- 
ence. But such a career could not last long, and the end became a 
tragedy. 

Several times Rasputin had been attacked, but had escaped. 
At last, on the 29th of December, 1916, Prince Yusapov, a young 
man of wealth and position, invited him to dine with him at his 
own home. The Prince came for him in his own car. Entering 
the dining-room, they found there the Grand Duke Dmitri Pavlo- 
vitch. M. Purishkevitch, a member of the Duma, had acted as 
chauffeur, and he followed him in. The three told him that he 
was to die and he was handed a pistol that he might kill himself; 
instead of doing so, he shot at the Grand Duke, but missed, and 
then was shot in turn by his captors. The noise attracted the 



RED REVOLUTION IN RUSSIA 427 

attentionof the police who inquired what had happened. "I have 
just killed a dog," was the reply. 

His body was taken in an automobile to the Neva River, a 
hole cut in the ice, and weighted with stones, it was dropped into 
the waters. On the next day his executioners notified the poUce 
of what they had done, and the news was announced at the 
Imperial Theatre, whose audience went wild with enthusiasm, and 
sang the National Hymn. No legal action was ever taken against 
Rasputin's executioners. His body was recovered and given 
honorable burial. The Czarina, according to report, following 
the coffin to the grave. And so disappeared from the Imperial 
Court one evil force. 

But his tool, Alexander Protopopov, still survived. Pro- 
topopov was an extraordinary man. In 1916 he had visited Eng- 
land and France and made a splendid impression. His speeches, 
full of fire and patriotism, were regarded as the best made by any 
deputation that had come from Russia. But on his return to 
Petrograd he fell completely into the hands of the Court party. 
He became associated with Rasputin, and his wild talk and rest- 
less conduct suggested to many that his mind had become affected. 

After the death of Rasputin, the meeting of the Duma, which 
should have taken place on January 25, 1917, was postponed for a 
month. The censorsiiip was drawn tighter, the members of the 
secret police were greatly increased, and a deliberate endeavor, 
under the direction of Protopopov was made to encourage an abor- 
tive revolution, so that its overthrow might establish the reaction- 
aries in power. But the attempt failed. 

During January and February the people were calm. No one 
wanted revolution then. On February 9th, the labor members of 
the War Industry Committee were arrested. This was regarded 
as plainly provocative, and M. Miliukov wrote appeals to the 
people for patience. These v/ere suppressed, but no disturbance 
ensued. A British Commission, then on a visit to Russia, reported 
that there was no danger of revolution. But the people were 
hungry. Speakers in the Duma discussed the food problem. 
It became harder and harder to procure bread, and little that was 
practical seemed to be done to improve the situation, though in 
some parts of the country there were large surplus stocks. On 
March 8th crowds gathered around the bakery shops, and looted 



428 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR 

several of them. The next day the crowds in the streets increased. 
Groups of Cossacks rode here and there, fraternizing with the peo- 
ple. They, too, were hungry. In the afternoon two workmen 
were arrested for disorder by the poUce. A band of Cossacks freed 
them. Street speakers began to appear here and there, and crowds 
gathered to listen to their fiery denunciations of the government. 

On March 11th, General Khabalov, military governor of 
the city, issued a proclamation announcing that the police had 
orders to disperse all crowds, and that any workman who did not 
return to work on Monday morning would be sent to the trenches. 
The main streets of the city were cleared and guarded by the 
police and soldiery. The crowds were enormous, and disorderly, 
and more than two hundred of the rioters were killed. Yet it 
seemed as if the government had the situation in a firm grasp, 
though an ominous incident was that the Pavlovsk regiment on 
being ordered to fire upon the mob, mutinied and had to be ordered 
to their quarters. 

Meantime Rodzianko, the President of the Duma, had tele- 
graphed to the Czar: 

Situation serious. Anarchy reigns in Capital. Government is 
paralyzed. Transport food and fuel supplies are utterly disorganized. 
General discontent is growing. Disorderly firing is going on in streets. 
Various companies of soldiers are shooting at each other. It is absolutely 
necessary to invest someone, who enjoys the confidence of the people, 
with powers to form a new government. No time must be lost, and 
delay may be fatal. I pray to God that in this hour responsibility may 
not fall on the wearer of the crown. 

The Prime Minister, Prince Golitzin, acting under powers 
which he had received from the Czar, prorogued the Duma. But 
the Duma refused to be prorogued. Its President, Rodzianko, 
holding in his hand the order for dissolution, announced that the 
Duma was now the sole constitutional authority of Russia. 

During the night following, the soldiers at the Capital, and 
the SociaHsts, decided upon their course. The soldiers deter- 
mined that they would not fire upon their civilian brothers. The 
Socialists planned an alternative scheme of government. 

On March the 12th, the city was taken possession of by a 
mob. The Preo Crajenski Guards refused to fire upon the crowd. 
The Volynsky regiment, sent to coerce them, joined in the mutiny. 



RED REVOLUTION IN RUSSIA 429 

Followed by the mob, the two regiments seized the arsenal. A 
force of 25,000 soldiers was in the revolt. At 11 A. M., the Courts of 
Law were set on fire and the fortress of SS. Peter and Paul was 
seized. The police, fighting desperately, were hunted from their 
quarters, their papers destroyed and the prisoners, political and 
criminal, released from the jails. 

During the day the Duma kept in constant session, awaiting 
the Emperor, who did not come. Telegram after telegram was 
sent him, each more urgent. There is reason to believe that these 
telegrams never reached the Czar. When information finally did 
come to him it was too late. Meantime the Duma appointed an 
executive committee. Their names were Rodzianko, Nekrasov, 
Konovalov, Dmitrikov, Lvov, Rjenski, Karaulov, Miliukov, Schled- 
lovski, Schulgin, Tcheidze and Kerensky. The workmen and 
soldiers also formed a comanittee, which xmdertook to influence 
the troops now pouring into Petrograd. But the center of the 
revolution was still the Duma, and crowds gathered to listen to 
its speeches. In the evening Protopovo surrendered to the Russian 
guards, but General Khabalov still occupied the Admiralty build- 
ing with such forces as were faithful. 

^ ^ On March 13th it became evident that the army in the field 
were accepting the authority of the provisional government. The 
Duma committee was composed mainly of men of moderate 
political views. They moved slowly, fearing on the one hand the 
Reactionaries who still preserved their loyalty to the Czar, and 
on the other hand the Council of Labor, with its extreme views, 
and its influence with the troops. The siege of the Admiralty 
building was ended by the surrender of General Khabalov. The 
poHce, however, v/ere still keeping up a desultory resistance, but 
the mob were hunting them Hke wild beasts. On Wednesday, 
the 14th of March, the revolution was over. 

The Executive Committee of the Duma and the Council of the 
Workmen's and Soldiers' Delegates, now universally known as the 
Soviet, were working in harmony. Every hour proclamations were 
issued, some of them foolish, some of them, it is thought, inspired 
by German agents, and some of them wise and patriotic. One of 
the most unfortunate of these proclamations was one to the army 
directing that "the orders of the War Committee must be obeyed, 
saving only on those occasions when they shall contravene the 



430 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR 

orders and regulations of the labor deputies and military delegates." 
This same proclamation abolished saluting for private soldiers off 
duty. It was the beginning of the destruction of the Russian 
military power. The proclamation of the Duma committee itself 
was admirable: 

Citizens: 

The Provisional Executive Committee of the Duma, with the aid 
and support of the garrison of the capital and its inhabitants, has now 
triumphed over the baneful forces of the old regime in such a manner as 
to enable it to proceed to the more stable organization of the executive 
power. With this object, the Provisional Committee will name ministers 
of the first national cabinet, men whose past public activity assures them 
the confidence of the country. 

The new cabinet will adopt the following principles as the basis of 
its policy: 

1. An immediate amnesty for all political and religious offenses, 
including mihtary revolts, acts of terrorism, and agrarian crimes. 

2. Freedom of speech, of the press, of associations and labor organiza- 
tions, and the freedom to strike; with an extension of these liberties to 
oJB&cials and troops, in so far as military and technical conditions permit. 

3. The abolition of social, religious, and racial restrictions and 
privileges. 

4. Immediate preparation for the summoning of a Constituent Assem- 
bly, which, with universal suffrage as a basis, shaU establish the govern- 
mental regime and the constitution of the country. 

5. The substitution for the police of a national militia, with elective 
heads and subject to the self-governing bodies. 

6. Communal elections to be carried out on the basis of universal 
suffrage. 

7. The troops that have taken part in the revolutionary movement 
shall not be disarmed, but they are not to leave Petrograd. 

8. While strict military discipline must be maintained on active 
service, all restrictions upon soldiers in the enjoyment of social rights 
granted to other citizens are to be abolished. 

Meantime the Emperor, "the Little Father," at first thoroughly 
incredulous of the gravity of the situation, had at last become 
alarmed. He appointed General Ivanov Commander-in-Chief of 
the army, and ordered him to proceed to Petrograd at the head of 
a division of loyal troops. General Ivanov set out, but his train 
was held up at Tsarkoe Selo, and he returned to Pskov. The 
Czar himself then started for the city, but he, too, was held up 
at the little station of Bologoi, where workmen had pulled up the 
track, and he returned to Pskov. 



RED REVOLUTION IN RUSSIA 431 

He sent for Ruzsky and declared that he was ready to yield 
to the Duma and grant a responsible ministry. Ruzsky advised 
him to get in touch with Rodzianko, and as a result of a telephone 
communication with Rodzianko and with several of his trusted 
generals, it became clear that there was no other course than 
abdication. Guchkov and Shulgin, messengers from the Duma, 
arrived on the evening of March 15th, and found the Emperor 
alone, except for his aide-de-camp, Count Fredericks. 

''What do you want me to do?" he asked. 

"You must abdicate," Guchkov told him, "in favor of your 
son, with the Grand Duke Michael Alexandrovitch as Regent." 

The Emperor sat for a long time silent. "I cannot be separated 
from my boy," he said. "I will hand the throne to my brother." 
Taking a sheet of paper he wrote as follows: 

By the Grace of God, We, Nicholas II, Emperor of all the Russias, 
to all our faithful subjects: 

In the course of a great struggle against a foreign enemy, who has 
been endeavoring for three years to enslave our country, it has pleased 
God to send Russia a further bitter trial. Internal troubles have threatened 
to compromise the progress of the war. The destinies of Russia, the 
honor of her heroic army, the happiness of her people, and the whole 
future of our beloved country demand that at all costs victory shall be 
won. The enemy is making his last efforts, and the moment is near 
when our gallant troops, in concert with their glorious Allies, will finally 
overthrow him. 

In these days of crisis we have considered that our nation needs the 
closest union of all its forces for the attainment of victory. In agreement 
with the Imperial Duma, we have recognized that for the good of our land 
we should abdicate the throne of the Russian state and lay down the 
supreme power. 

Not wishing separate ourselves from our beloved son, we bequeath 
our heritage to our brother, the Grand Duke Michael Alexandrovitch, 
with our blessing upon the future of the Russian throne. We bequeath 
it to him with the charge to govern in full unison with the national repre- 
sentatives who may sit in the legislature, and to take his inviolable oath 
to them in the name of our well-beloved country. 

We call upon all faithful sons of our land to fulfil this sacred and 
patriotic duty in obeying their Emperor at this painful moment of national 
trial, and to aid him, together with the representatives of the nation, 
to lead the Russian people in the way of prosperity and glory. 

May God help Russia. 

So ended the reign of Nicholas the Second, Czar of all the 
Russias. The news of the Czar's abdication spread over the world 



432 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR 

with great rapidity, and was received by the Allies mth mixed 
feelings. The Czar had been scrupulously loyal to the alliance. 
He was a man of high personal character, and his sympathies on 
the whole, liberal; but he was a weak man in a position in which 
even a strong man might have failed. He was easily influenced, 
especially by his wife. Warned again and again of the danger 
before him, he constantly promised improvement, only to fail 
in keeping his promises. He deeply loved his wife, and yielded 
continually to her unwise advice. 

The Empress Alexandra Feodorovna is but another instance 
of a devoted queen who dethroned her consort. She believed in 
Divine Right and looked with suspicion upon popular leaders. 
Her one object in life was to hand on the Russian crown to her son, 
with no atom of its power diminished. She surrounded herself 
and her husband with scoundrels and charlatans. 

On the whole, the feeling among the Allies was one of rehef. 
There was a general distrust of the influences which had been sur- 
rounding the Czar. The patriotism of the Grand Duke Michael 
was well known, and a government conducted by him was sure 
to be a great improvement. But it was not to be. Before the 
news of the abdication reached Petrograd a new ministry had 
been formed by the Duma. Miliukov announced their names 
and explained their credentials. The Prime Minister was Prince 
George Lvov. Mihukov was Minister of Foreign Affairs, Guchkov 
Minister of War and Marine, Kerensky, a new name in the govern- 
ment. Minister of Justice. The ministry included representatives 
of every party of the left and center. 

Miliukov declared that their credentials came from the Russian 
revolution: "We shall not fight for the sake of power. To be 
in power is not a reward or pleasure but a sacrifice. As soon 
as we are told that the sacrifice is no longer needed, we shall give 
up our places with gratitude for the opportunity which has been 
accorded us." 

He concluded by informing his hearers that the despot who 
had brought Russia to the brink of ruin would either abdicate of 
his free will, or be deposed. He added that the Grand Duke 
Michael would be appointed Regent. 

This announcement at once produced an explosion. A min- 
istry of moderates and a continuance of the Imperial government 



RED REVOLUTION IN RUSSIA 433 

under a regency stirred the delegates of the workmen and soldiers 
to revolt. For a time it seemed as if the new government would 
disappear in the horrors of mob rule. But Kerensky saved the 
situation. Making his way into the meeting of the Soviet he 
burst into an impassioned speech. 

"Comrades!" he cried, '^I have been appointed Minister of 
Justice. No one is a more ardent RepubHcan than I, but we must 
bide our time. Nothing can come to its full growth at once. We 
shall have our Republic but we must first win the war. The need 
of the moment is organization and discipline and that need will 
not wait." 

His eloquence carried the day. The Soviet passed a resolu- 
tion supporting the provisional government with only fifteen dis- 
senting votes. But it had been made clear that the people did not 
approve of the regency, and on the night of the 15th of March, 
Prince Lvov, Kerensky and other leaders of the Duma sought 
out the Grand Duke Michael and informed him of the situation. 
The Grand Duke yielded to the people, and on Friday, March the 
16th, issued a declaration which ended the power of the Romanovs 
in Russia: 

I am firmly resolved to accept the supreme power only if this should 
be the desire of our great people, who must, by means of a plebiscite 
through their representatives ia the Constituent Assembly, establish 
the form of government and the new fundamental laws of the Russian 
state. Invoking God's blessing, I, therefore, request all citizens of Russia 
to obey the provisional government, set up on the initiative of the Duma, 
^nd invested with plenary powers, until within as short a time as possible 
the Constituent Assembly elected on a basis of equal, xmiversal and 
secret suffrage, shall enforce the will of the nation regarding the future 
form of the constitution. 

With this declaration the sacred monarchy had disappeared. 
In one week the people had come to their own and Russia was 
free. But what form of new government was to replace the old 
regime was still the question. There were two rival theories as 
to the principles to be followed, one that of the Moderates, the 
other of the Extremists. The Moderates, who controlled the 
provisional government were practical men. They realized that 
Russia was at war and that efficient administration was the great 
need. 

The Extremists of the Soviet were a different type of men. 



434 HISTORY OF THE WOULD WAR 

They were profoundly ignorant of all practical questions of govern- 
ment; their creed was socialism. The Socialistic party in Russia 
may be divided into three different groups. The first, the Social 
Revolutionary party, came into prominence in Russia about 1900. 
It was composed of followers of the Russian Lavrov who beUeved 
in the socialist state, but a state which should not be a tyrant 
overriding the individual. Liberty was his watchword and he 
made his appeal not only to the workmen in the shops but with a 
special force to the peasant. He did not preach class war in the 
ordinary sense, and believed in the value of national life. To this 
party belonged Kerensky, more and more becoming the leader of 
the revolutionary movement. 

The second group of the Sociahst party were the Bolsheviki. 
This group were followers of the German Karl Marx. The revo- 
lution which they sought was essentially a class revolution. To 
the Bolsheviki the fate of their country mattered not at all. They 
were eager for peace on any terms. The only war in which they 
were interested was a class war; they recognized no political boun- 
daries. The leader of this group was Vladimir Iljetch Uljanov, 
who, under his pen name of Lenine, was already widely known and 
who had now obtained the opportunity which he had long desired. 

The third group were the Mensheviki. The Mensheviki 
believed in the importance of the working classes, but they did not 
ignore other classes. They were willing to use existing forms of 
government to carry out the reforms they desired. They saw 
that the AlUed cause was their own cause, the cause of the work- 
man as well as the intellectual. 

The Soviet contained representatives of these three groups. 
It did not represent Russia, but it was in Petrograd and could 
exert its influence directly upon the government. 

The attitude of the provisional government toward the 
Imperial family was at first not unkindly. The Czar and the 
Czarina were escorted to the Alexandrovsky Palace in Tsarskoe- 
Selo. The Czar for a time Hved quietly as plain Nicholas Romanov. 
The Czarina and her children were very ill with measles, the case 
of the Httle Prince being complicated by the breaking out of an 
old wound in his foot. The Grand Duchess Tatiana was in a 
serious condition and oxygen had been administered. As his 
family improved in health the Czar amused himself by strolls 



RED REVOLUTION IN RUSSIA 435 

in the palace yard, and even by shoveling snow. Later on Nicholas 
was transferred to Tobolsk, Siberia, and then, in May, 1918, to 
Yekaterinberg. His wife and his daughter Marie accompanied 
him to the latter place, while Alexis and his other three daughters 
remained in Tobolsk. On July 20th a Russian government dis- 
patch announced his assassination. It read as follows : 

At the first session of the Central Executive Committee, elected by 
the Fifth Congress of the Councils, a message was made public that had 
been received by direct wire from the Ural Regional Council, concerning 
the shooting of the ex-Czar, Nicholas Romanov. Recently Yekaterin- 
berg, the Capital of the Red Urals, was seriously threatened by the approach 
of Czecho-Slovak bands, and a counter-revolutionary conspiracy was 
discovered, which had as its object the wresting of the ex-Czar from the 
hands of the Council's authority. In view of this fact the President of 
the Ural Regional Council decided to shoot the ex-Czar, and the decision 
was carried out on July 16th. . [ j , .„ . .. -5«>^.., 

The wife and the son of Nicholas Romanov had been sent 
to a place of security. In a detailed account of the execution, 
pubhshed in BerHn, it appeared that the Czar had been awakened 
at five o'clock in the morning, and informed that he was to be 
executed in two horn's. He spent some time with a priest in his 
bedroom and wrote several letters. According to this account, 
when the patrol came to take him out for execution he was found 
in a state of collapse. His last words, uttered just before the 
executioners fired, are reported to have been "Spare my wife and 
my innocent and unhappy children. May my blood preserve 
Russia from ruin." 

The Russian press, including the Socialist papers, condemned 
the execution as a cruel and unnecessary act. The charges of 
conspiracy were utterly unproven, and were merely an excuse. 
The Central Executive Committee, however, accepted the decision 
of the Ural Regional Soviet as being regular, and a decree by the 
Bolshevist Government declared all the property of the former 
Emperor, his wife, his mother and all the members of the Imperial 
house, forfeit to the Soviet Republic. 

Meantime the provisional government, which had taken power 
on the 16th of March, seemed as if it might succeed. Miliukov, 
whose announcement of the Regency had made him unpopular, 
declared for a Repubhc. The great army commanders for the 
most part accepted the revolution. The Grand Duke Nicholas 



436 



HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR 



was removed from his command and the other Grand Dukes were 
ordered not to leave Petrograd. Alexiev became conunander-in- 
chief; Ruzsky had the northern group of armies, Brusilov the 
southern; Kornilov was in command of Petrograd, and the cen- 
tral group was put under the command of Lechitsky. Reports 
came that discipline was improving everywhere on the front. 

The plans of the government, too, met with general approval. 
Their poHcy was annoimced by Prince Lvov. "The new govern- 
ment considers it its duty to make known to the world that the 




"s^^sjr 



Capital of the New Republic of Russia 



object of free Russia is not to dominate other nations and forcibly 
to take away their territory. The object of independent Russia 
is a permanent peace and the right of all nations to determine 
their own destiny." 

Kerensky, in inspiring speeches, encouraged the country to 
war, and declared against a separate peace. The new government 
announced that Poland was to receive complete independence, 
with a right to determine its own form of government, and its 
relation, if any, to Russia. In Finland the Governor, Sein, was 
removed. A Liberal was appointed Governor and the Finnish 



RED REVOLUTION IN RUSSIA 437 

Diet was convened. A manifesto was issued on March 21st, 
completely restoring the Finnish constitution. To the Armenians 
Kerensky expressed himself as in favor of an autonomous govern- 
ment for them, under Russia's protection, and on March 25th, 
absolute equahty of the Jews was proclaimed by the new govern- 
ment. A number of Jews were made officers in the army, and 
two Jewish advocates were appointed members of the Russian 
Senate and of the Supreme Court. On April 4th full rehgious 
liberty was proclaimed, and on the same date the Prime Minister 
promised a delegation of women that women would be given the 
right to vote. 

These acts caused a general subsidence of unrest, and public 
good feeling was increased by the return of the poHtical exiles 
and prisoners from Siberia. A full hundred thousand of such pris- 
oners were released, and their progress across Siberia to Russia 
was one grand triumphal march. 

The most celebrated of these poHtical prisoners were two 
women, Catherine Breshkovskaya and Marie Spiridonova. Cath- 
erine Breshkovskaya was known as the grandmother of the revolu- 
tion. Forty-four years of her life were spent in exile. When 
she reached Petrograd she was met at the railroad depot by a 
mihtary band, and carried in procession through the streets. 
Equally popular was Marie Spiridonova, who, though still young, 
had suffered martyrdom. She had been tortured with cruelty 
that is unprintable. Her face had been disfigured for life. The 
agents who had inflicted the torture were assassinated by the 
revolutionists. 

It was a great day for Russia, and the outlook seemed full of 
promise. 



CHAPTER XXXI 
The Descent to Bolshevism 

THE hopes entertained for the new RepubHc of Russia were 
doomed to disappointment. For a short time, under the 
leadership of Lvov, the Russians marched along the path 
of true democracy. But the pace became too rapid. 

The government prospered in Petrograd, and the economic 
organization of the country proceeded with great speed. An eight- 
hour day was introduced in the capital and in many other cities 
throughout the republic. The fever of organization spread even 
to the peasants. They formed a Council of Peasants' Deputies, 
modeled after the Council of Workmen and Soldiers. On the 13th 
of April, 1917, came the first meeting of the All-Russia Congress 
of Soviets, and with it a revival of the differences of opinion which 
ultimately were to destroy the government. The great majority 
were for war, but the minority, led by Lenine and the Bolsheviki. 
element, demanded an immediate peace. They declared that the 
enemies of the Revolution were not the Central Poweris, but the 
capitaHsts in all countries, and not least the Provisional Govern- 
ment of Russia. 

Some clew to the meaning of the Bolsheviki movement in 
Russia is to be found in the life of Lenine, its leading spirit. It 
has been charged that he was the tool of the German Government. 
He undoubtedly received facilities from the German Government 
to return to Russia from Switzerland immediately after the Revo- 
lution in March. His whole career, however, suggests that he was 
not a tool, but a fanatic. 

He was born in Simbirsk, in Central Russia, in the year 1870. 
Lenine was only one of the several aliases that he had found it 
necessary to adopt at various times. He was of good family, and 
received his education at the Petrograd University. From the 
very beginning he took an active interest in the poHtical and social 
problems of the day. In 1887 his brother, A. TJljanov, was arrested, 
and after a secret trial condemned to death and hanged as a partici- 

438 




© Underwood and Underwood, N. Y. 

THE RUSSIAN WOMEN'S "BATTALION OF DEATH" IN CAMP 

A unique outgrowth of the Russian revolution was this organization of women, 
which came into prominence at the beginning of the Russian front's break-up. 




© Underwood and Underwood, N. Y. 

THE RED GUARD, RIGHT ARM OF BOLSHEVISM 

Without the aid of these citizen-soldiers the overthrow by the Bolshevists of the 
Provisional Government under Kerensky would not have been possible. 





H 
W 

H 

< 

O 
H 
O 

.id 
^ 9 

@ 






'Ti ^\3, 



o^ 






bO 



_ 1=1 

^-♦^ 2 ■ 
>> „ «i .s 

«g « Ss PI « 

O d 03 o 
03^ «3 <a 



THE DESCENT TO BOLSHEVISM 441 

pant in a plot to wreck the imperial train carrying Alexander III. 
Lenine was also arrested, but was released on account of a lack of 
evidence. At this time the Russian Socialistic movement was 
still in its infancy. 

Lenine spent his Sundays in a circle of uneducated workmen, 
explaining to them the elements of socialistic economics. Along 
with this propaganda work he studied deeply the economic phases 
of Russian life, being especially interested in its working and peasant 
classes. He wrote several books on the subject, which are still 
accepted as valuable representatives of Russian economic literature. 
Because of his sociaUstic activities, Lenine was compelled to leave 
Russia on several occasions, when he Hved in Switzerland, France 
and Austria. From these countries he directed the work of one 
of the groups of the Social Democratic party, and became an impor- 
tant leader. 

In the General Russian Socialistic Convention, held in 1903, 
this group made a definite stand for its program and policies. This 
was the time when the word "Bolsheviki" was coined, meaning 
the "majority," who had voted in accord with Lenine's proposals. 
Lenine believed in the seizure of poUtical power by means of violent 
revolution and in estabhshing a proletarian government. After 
the Revolution of 1905, the Lenine faction dwindled and it seemed 
as if Bolshevism was destined to die out. But in 1911, with the 
awakening of a new spirit in the political and social Hfe of Russia, 
a new impetus was given to the activities of the Bolsheviki. The 
first Socialist daily paper, Pravda, ("the Truth,") was one of their 
efforts. In 1913 the Bolsheviki sent six representatives to the 
Duma. 

At the outbreak of the v^ar Lenine was in Cracow. Like 
other revolutionary leaders he was compelled to live in exile. He 
went to Switzerland where he remained until the news of the suc- 
cessful revolution caused his return to Russia. On his arrival in 
Petrograd he gathered together his followers and began the agita- 
tion in favor of the Bolshevist program and of peace. 

The first sign of the conflict between the Provisional Govern- 
ment and the Soviet arose in connection with the joint note sent 
to the Allies by the Provisional Government on May 1st. This 
note was signed by Foreign Secretary Miliukov. It declared, 
among other things, that the Provisional Government would 



442 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR 

''maintain a strict regard for its engagements with the Allies of 
Russia." 

The document aroused strong disapproval among many- 
members of the Council of the Soviet, and serious anti-government 
demonstrations occurred in Petrograd on May 3d and 4th. These 
demonstrations were directed distinctly against Miliukov. Detach- 
ments of soldiers and workmen gathered in front of the headquarters 
of the Provisional Government, carrying banners, with inscriptions 
' ' Down with Miliukov ! Down with the Provisional Government ! ' ' 
Miliukov appealed to the crowd for confidence, and his words 
were greeted with hearty cheering. __^ 

The Soviet Council ultimately voted confidence in tne govern- 
ment by a narrow margin of 35 in a total of 2,500. But the agita- 
tion against the government persisted, and on May 16th Mihukov 
resigned, f General Kornilov, Commander of the Petrograd Garri- 
son, and Guchkov, Minister of War, finding their control of the 
army weakened by the interference of the Soviet Council, also 
resigned. _ *i; 

The situation became critical. As a result of this agitation a 
new coalition government was formed. Prince Lvov remained 
Prime Minister. Terestchenko became Foreign Minister. Most 
significant of all, Kerensky became the Minister of War. The new 
government issued a new declaration of policy, promising a firm 
support of the war with Germany, and an effort to call together 
at the earliest possible date a Constituent Assembly to deal with 
questions of land and of finance. This manifesto was received coldly 
by the Soviets and their press. #3- 

It was at this time that the Allies sent special missions to 
Russia to aid the Russian Government in forwarding the fight 
against the common enemy. The American mission to Russia 
was headed by Elihu Root, former Secretary of State. It was 
cordially received, and housed in the former Winter Palace of the 
Czar. On June 15th the American Ambassador, David R. Francis, 
presented the Root mission to the Council of Ministers in the Marin- 
sky Palace, and Mr. Root made an eloquent address, declaring the 
sympathy of the American Republic with the new Russian Democ- 
racy. He declared that the liberty of both nations was in danger. 
"The armed forces of military autocracy are at the gates of Russia 
and the Allies. The triumph of German arms will mean the death 



THE DESCENT TO BOLSHEVISM 443 

of liberty in Russia. No enemy is at the gates of America, but 
America has come to reaHze that the triumph of German arms 
means the death of Liberty in the world." 

At Moscow Mr. Root addressed representatives of the Zemstvo 
and the local Council of the Workmen and Soldiers. He was 
warmly applauded, and on motion of the Mayor a telegram was 
sent to President Wilson, thanking him for sending the Root 
Commission to Russia. The Root Mission returned to the United 
States early in August, and reported to Washington August 12th. 
At a public reception given by the citizens of New York, Senator 
Root expressed supreme confidence in the stability of the Revolu- 
tion. 

On July 1st, inspired by Kerensky, and under the personal 
leadership of General Kornilov, the Russian army began an 
offensive in GaHcia. It first met with complete success, capturing 
Halicz, and sweeping forward close to Dolina in the Carpathian 
foothills. Then under a very shght hostile German pressure, the 
Russian armies, immediately to the north and south of Kornilov's 
army, broke and ran. This action was directly traced to orders 
subversive of discipHne, emanating from the Petrograd Soviet. 
Kornilov's army was compelled to retire, and by July 21st was in 
full retreat from Galicia. 

The Russian mutiny spread. Regiments refused to fight or 
to obey their ofiicers. 

One of the most picturesque episodes of this phase of the 
war was the formation of a woman's regiment, known as the 
''Command of Death," which was reviewed at Petrograd June 21st, 
by Minister of War, Kerensky. In front of the barracks assigned 
to this regiment a visitor found posted at the gate a Httle blue- 
eyed sentry in a soldier's khaki blouse, short breeches, green forage 
cap, ordinary woman's black stockings and neat shoes. The 
sentry was Mareya Skridlov, daughter of Admiral Skridlov, former 
commander of the Baltic fleet and Minister of Marines. In the 
courtyard three hundred girls were drilUng, mostly between 18 and 
25 years old, of good physique and many of them pretty. They 
wore their hair short or had their heads entirely shaved. They 
were drilling under the instruction of a male sergeant of the 
Voljmsky regiment, and marched to an exaggerated goose step. 

The girl commander, Lieutenant Buitchkarev, explained that 



444 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR 

most of the recruits were from the higher educational academies, 
with a few peasants, factory girls and servants. Some married 
women were accepted, but none who had children. The Battahon 
of Death distinguished itself on the field, setting an example of 
courage to the mutinous regiments during the retreat of Brusilov. 

With the army thus demoralized the Russian Revolution 
encountered a perilous period toward the end of July, 1917, and 
civil war or anarchy seemed almost at hand, when out of the 
depths of the national spirit there arose a new revolution to save 
the* situation and to maintain order. The country was every- 
where the scene of riotous disturbances. Anarchists, radicals, 
and monarchists seemed to be working hand-in-hand to precipitate 
a reign of terror, when once more Kerensky saved the situation. 
On July 20th, it was announced that the Premier, Prince Lvov, had 
resigned, and that Alexander Kerensky had been appointed 
Premier, but would also retain his portfolio as Minister of War. 

A new government was quickly formed. Kerensky was made 
practical Dictator, and his government received the complete 
endorsement of a joint Congress of the Soviets and the Council of 
peasant delegates. Kerensky acted with the utmost vigor. Orders 
were given to fire on deserters and warrants issued for the arrest 
of revolutionary agitators whoever they might be. Rear-Admiral 
Verdervski, commander of the Baltic fleet, was seized for com- 
municating a secret government telegram to sailors' committees. 
Agitators from the Soviet were arrested, charged with inciting the 
Peterhof troops against the Federal Government. On July 22d, 
the following resolution was passed by the joint Congress. 

Recognizing that the country is menaced by a military debacle on 
the front and by anarchy at home, it is resolved : 

1. That the country and the revolution are in danger. 

2. That the Provisional Government is proclaimed the Government 
of National Safety. 

3. That unlimited powers are accorded the government for re-estab- 
lishing the organization and discipline of the army for a fight to a finish 
against the enemies of public order, and for the realization of the whole 
program embodied in the governmental program just announced. 

The reorganization of the Councils of the All-Russia, and 
Workmen's and Peasants' Organizations on the 23d, issued a 
ringing address to the army denouncing its mutinous spirit and 



THE DESCENT TO BOLSHEVISM 445 

warning it of the inevitable result. The Provisional Government 
also issued a proclamation on July 22d, charging that the dis- 
orders were precipitated to bring about a counter-revolution by 
the enemies of the country. But the army was demoralized. It 
disregarded discipline and refused to recognize military rule. A 
general retreat followed. The Germans and Austrians steadily 
advanced through GaUcia and crossed the frontier before the Rus- 
sian armies could be forced to make a stand. 

The death penalty for treason or mutiny was restored in the 
army on July 25th, when Kerensky threatened to resign unless 
this was done. On that same date the government authorized 
the Minister of the Interior to suspend the publication of periodicals 
that incite to insubordination or disobedience to orders given by 
the military authorities. By July 28th the situation had become 
more hopeful. On that day General Ruzsky, formerly commander- 
in-chief of the northern armies of Russia, and General Gurko, 
ex-commander on the Russian southwestern front, were sum- 
moned^to Petrograd. Each had retired on account of the inter- 
ference of the Council of Workmen and Soldiers' delegates. Their 
return to the service was a hopeful sign. The Soviet also passed 
by an overwhelming majority a resolution censuring Lenine, and 
demanding that he should be pubhcly tried. Charges had been 
made that Lenine and his associates were working under German 
direction and financed by Germans. On August 2d, Kornilov 
became Commander-in-Chief of the Russian army. A disagree- 
ment in the Cabinet led to its reorganization. In the new Cabinet 
appeared again representatives of the Constitutional Democratic 
party. Conditions began to show improvement from this time 
forth. 

An extraordinary National Council met at Moscow August 
26th, 1917. This conference consisted of 2,500 delegates repre- 
senting the Duma, the Soviets, the Zemstvos, and indeed all 
organized Russia. Kerensky opened the conference in a speech 
of great length in which he reviewed the general situation, declar- 
ing that the destructive period of the Revolution had past and 
that the time had come to consoHdate its conquests. 

Perhaps the most important address before the Council was 
that made by General Kornilov, Commander-in-Chief of the army. 
General Kornilov was received with prolonged cheers, which in 



446 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR 

the light of his subsequent action were especially significant. 
General Kornilov described with much detail the disorganization 
and insubordination in the army, and continued: 

"We are implacably fighting anarchy in the army. Undoubt- 
edly it will finally be repressed, but the danger of fresh debacles is 
weighing constantly on the country. The situation on the front 
is bad. We have lost the whole of Galicia, the whole of Bukowina, 
and all the fruits of our recent victories. If Russia wishes to be 
saved the army must be regenerated at any cost." General Korni- 
lov then outHned the most important of the reform measures which 
he recommended, and concluded: "I beheve that the genius and 
the reason of the Russian people will save the country. I believe 
in a brilliant future for our army. I beheve its ancient glory will 
be restored." 

General Kaledines, leader of the Don Cossacks, mounted the 
tribune and read a resolution passed by the Cossacks demanding 
the continuation of the war until complete victory was attained. 
He defied the extreme Radicals. ''Who saved you from the Bol- 
sheviki on the 14th of July?" he asked contemptuously. "We 
Cossacks have been free men. We are not made drunk by our 
new-found hberties and are unbhnded by party or program. We 
tell you plainly and categorically, 'Remove yourselves from the 
place which you have neither the ability or the courage to fill, and 
let better men than yourselves step in, or take the consequences of 
your folly.'" 

The conference took no definite action, being invested with no 
authority, but it served to bring out clearly the line of cleavage 
between the Radical or Socialistic element represented by Kerensky 
and the Conservatives represented by the generals of the army. 

Immediately on the heels of the Moscow conference an impor- 
tant German advance was made in the direction of Riga, the most 
important Russian Baltic port. In spite of a vigorous defense the 
Germans captured the city. 

The loss of Riga intensified the political excitement in Russia, 
and produced a profound crisis. A wave of unrest spread through- 
out the country. The Grand Duke Michael, and the Grand Duke 
Paul with their families, were arrested on a charge of conspiracy. 
The Provisional Government was charged with responsibility of 
the collapse of the army. 



THE DESCENT TO BOLSHEVISM 447 

It was on September 9th, that the storm broke, and General 
Kornilov, the Commander-in-Chief of the Russian armies, raised 
the flag of revolt against the Provisional Government. The details 
of the revolt are as follows: 

At one o'clock Satm-day afternoon, Deputy Lvov, of the 
Duma, called upon Premier Kerensky, and declared that he had 
come as the representative of General Kornilov to demand the 
surrender of all power into Kornilov's hands. M. Lvov said that 
this demand did not emanate from Kornilov only but was supported 
by an organization of Duma members, Moscow industrial interests, 
and other conservatives. This group, said M. Lvov, did not 
object to Kerensky personally, but demanded that he transfer 
the PortfoHo of War to M. Savinkov, assistant Minister of War, 
who all along had supported Kornilov. 

"If you agree," M. Lvov added, "we invite you to come to 
headquarters and meet General Kornilov, giving you a solemn 
guarantee that you will not be arrested." 

Premier Kerensky replied that he could not believe Kornilov 
to be guilty of such an act of treason, and that he would commu- 
nicate with him directly. In an exchange of telegrams Kornilov 
confirmed fully to the Premier his demands. Kerensky promptly 
placed Lvov under arrest, denoimced Kornilov as a traitor and 
deposed him from his position as Commander-in-Chief, General 
Klembovsky being appointed in his place. General Kornilov 
responded to the order of dismissal by moving an army against the 
Capital. 

Martial law was declared in Moscow and in Petrograd. 
Kerensky assumed the functions of Commander-in-Chief and took 
mihtary measures to defend Petrograd and resist the rebels. On 
the 12th it was clear that the Kornilov revolt had failed to receive 
the expected support. Kornilov advanced toward Petrograd, 
and occupied Jotchina, thirty miles southwest of the Capital, but 
there was no bloodshed. On the night of the 13th, General 
Alexief demanded Kornilov's unconditional surrender, and the 
revolt collapsed. Kornilov was arrested and the Provisional 
Government reconstituted on stronger lines. 

After the so-called Kornilov revolt, the Russian Revolution 
assumed a form which might almost be called stable. A democratic 
congress met at Moscow, September 27th, and adopted a resolu- 



448 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR 

tion providing for a preliminary parliament to consist of 231 
members, of whom 110 were to represent the Zemstvos and the 
towns. The congress refused its sanction to a coalition cabinet 
in which the Constitutional Democrats should participate, but 
Kerensky practically defied the congress, and named a coalition 
cabinet, in which several portfoUos were held by members of 
the Constitutional Democratic Party. The new government 
issued a statement declaring that it had three principal aims: 
to raise the fighting power of the army and navy; to bring 
order to the country by fighting anarchy; to call the Constitu- 
ent Assembly as soon as possible. The Constituent Assembly 
was called to assemble in December. It was to consist of 732 
delegates to be elected by popular vote. 

Meantime agitation against the CoaUtion Government con- 
tinued. On November 1st, the Premier issued a statement through 
the Associated Press, to all the newspapers of the Entente, which 
conveyed the information that he almost despaired of restoring 
civil law in the distracted country. He said that he felt that help 
was needed urgently and that Russia asked it as her right. '' Russia 
has fought consistently since the beginning," he said. '^She 
saved France and England from disaster early in the war. She is 
worn out by the strain and claims as her right that the AlUes now 
shoulder the burden." 

On November 7th, an armed insurrection against the Coali- 
tion Government and Premier Kerensky was precipitated by the 
Bolsheviki faction. The revolt was headed by Leon Trotzky, 
President of the Central Executive Conamittee of the Petrograd 
Council, with Nicholas Lenine, the Bolsheviki leader. The Revo- 
lutionists seized the offices of the telephone and telegraph com- 
panies and occupied the state bank and the Marie Palace where 
the preliminary ParUament had been sitting. The garrison at 
Petrograd espoused the cause of the Bolsheviki and complete 
control was seized with comparatively little fighting. The govern- 
ment troops were quickly overpowered, except at the Winter 
Palace, whose chief guardians were the Woman's Battalion, and 
the Military Cadets. The Woman's Battalion fought bravely, and 
suffered terribly, and with the Military Cadets who also remained 
true, held the Palace for several hours. The Bolsheviki brought 
up armored cars and the cruiser Aurora, and turned the guns of 



THE DESCENT TO BOLSHEVISM 449 

the Fortress of SS. Peter and Paul upon the Palace before its 
defenders would surrender. 

That evening the Revolutionary Committee issued a char- 
acteristic proclamation, denouncing the government of Kerensky 
as opposed to the government and the people, and calling upon 
the soldiers in the army to arrest their officers if they did not at 
once join the Revolution. They announced the following 
program : 

First: The offer of an immediate democratic peace. 

Second : The immediate handing over of large proportional lands to 
the peasants. 

Third: The transmission of all authority to the Council of Work- 
men's and Soldiers' Delegates. 

Fourth: The honest convocation of the Constituent Assembly. 

At a meeting of the Council, Trotzky declared that the govern- 
ment no longer existed, and introduced Lenine as an old comrade 
whom he welcomed back. Lenine was received with prolonged 
cheers, and said: ''Now we have a Revolution. The peasants 
and workmen control the government. This is only a preliminary 
step toward a similar revolution everywhere." 

Proclamation after proclamation came from the new govern- 
ment. In one of them it was stated ''M. Kerensky has taken 
flight, and all mihtary bodies have been empowered to take all 
possible measures to arrest Kerensky and bring him back to 
Petrograd. All complicity with Kerensky will be dealt with as 
high treason." 

A Bolsheviki Cabinet was named. The Premier was Nicholas 
Lenine; the Foreign Minister, Leon Trotzky. The other Cabinet 
members were all Bolsheviki, including Bibenko, a Kronstadt 
sailor, of the Committee on War and Marine, and Shliapnikov, a 
laborer, who was Minister of Labor. Lenine' s personality has 
already been described. Trotzky, the chief aid of Lenine's rebel- 
lion, had been living in New York City three months before the 
Czar was overthrown, but he had previously been expelled from 
Germany, France, Switzerland and Spain. His real name was 
Leber Braunstein, and he was born in the Russian Government 
of Kherson, near the Black Sea. 

When the insurrection occurred, Kerensky succeeded in escap- 
ing from Petrograd, and persuaded about two thousand Cossacks, 

23 



450 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR 

several hundred Military Cadets, and a contingent of Artillery, 
to fight under his banner. He advanced toward Petrograd, but 
his forces were greatly outnumbered by the Bolsheviki. At 
Tsarskoe-Selo a battle took place, the Kerensky troops met defeat, 
and its leader saved himself by fhght. 

At Moscow the entire city passed into the control of the 
Bolsheviki but not without severe fighting in which more than 
three thousand people were slain. On the collapse of the Kerensky 
government conditions throughout Russia became chaotic. 
Ukraine declared its independence, and Finland also severed its 
connection with Russia. General Kaledines declared against the 
Bolsheviki, and organized an army to save the country. Siberia, 
Bessarabia, Lithuania, the Caucasus and other districts declared 
their complete independence of the Central Government. 

The Bolsheviki, in control at Petrograd, opened negotiations 
with the Central Powers for an armistice along the entire front 
from the Baltic to Asia Minor, and on December 17th, such an 
armistice went into effect. Meanwliile they began negotiations 
for a treaty of peace. General DukhoHn, the Commander-in-Chief, 
on November 20th, was ordered by Lenine to propose the armistice. 
To this request he made no reply, and on November 21st, he was 
deposed and Ensign Krylenko was appointed the new Commander- 
in-Chief. General Dukholin was subsequently murdered, by 
being thrown from a train after the Bolsheviki seized the general 
headquarters. 

Trotzky sent a note to the representatives of neutral powers 
in Petrograd, informing them of his proposal for an armistice, and 
stating ''The consummation of an immediate peace is demanded 
in all countries, both belhgerent and neutral. The Russian Govern- 
ment counts on the firm support of workmen in all countries in 
this struggle for peace." Lenine, however, declared that Russia 
did not contemplate a separate peace with Germany, and that the 
Russian Government, before agreeing to an armistice, would 
communicate with the Allies and make a certain proposal to the 
imperiahstic governments of France and England, rejection of 
which would place them in open opposition to the wishes of their 
own people. 

A period of turmoil followed. In the meantime elections for 
the Constituent Assembly were held. The result in Petrograd 



THE DESCENT TO BOLSHEVISM 451 

was announced as 272,000 votes for the Bolsheviki, 211,000 for the 
Constitutional Democrats, and 116,000 for the Social Revolution- 
aries, showing that the Bolsheviki failed to attain a majority. 
Notwithstanding the prevaihng chaos, the Lenine-Trotzky Govern- 
ment persisted in negotiations for an armistice, and it was arranged 
that the first conference be held at the German headquarters at 
Brest-Litovsk. 

The Russian delegates were Kamenev, v/hose real name was 
Rosenfelt, a well known Bolshevist leader; Sokolnikov, a sailor; 
Bithenko, a soldier, and Mstislasky, who had formerly been libra- 
rian to the General Staff, but who was now a strong Sociahst. Repre- 
sentatives were present of Germany, Austria-Hungary, Turkey 
and Bulgaria. 

After many interchanges of opinion a suspension of hostihties 
for ten days Y»^as authorized, to be utilised in bringing to a con- 
clusion negotiations for an armistice. On December 7th it was 
announced from Petrograd that for the first time since the war 
not a shot was fired on the Russian front. Foreign Secretary 
Trotzky, on the 6th of December, notified the allied embassies in 
Petrograd of these negotiations and added that the armistice would 
be signed only on condition that the troops should not be trans- 
ferred from one front to another. He announced that negotia- 
tions had been suspended to afford the Allied Governments oppor- 
tunity to define their attitude toward the peace negotiation; that 
is, their willingness or refusal to participate in negotiations for an 
armistice and peace. In case of refusal they must declare clearly 
and definitely before aU mankind the aims for which the peoples of 
Europe had been called to shed their blood during the fourth year 
of the war. 

No official rephes were made to this note. On December 7th, 
Generals Kaledines and Kornilov raised the standard of revolt, 
but reports indicated that the Bolsheviki were extending their 
control over all Russia. A meeting of the Constituent Assembly 
took place on December 11th. Less than 50 of the 600 delegates 
attended. Meanwhile the negotiations for an armistice continued. 
On December 16th an agreement was reached and an armistice 
signed, to continue from December 17th to January 14th, 1918. 

Within the first month in which the Bolsheviki conducted the 
government numerous edicts of a revolutionary character were 






HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR 




s Si 5 



THE DESCENT TO BOLSHEVISM 453 

issued. Class titles, distinctions and privileges were abolished; the 
corporate property of nobles, merchants and burgesses was to be 
handed over to the state, as was all church property, lands, money 
and precious stones; and religious instruction was to cease in the 
schools. Strikes were in progress everywhere, and disorder was 
rampant. 

Kornilov, Terestchenko and other associates of Kerensky, 
were imprisoned in the Fortress of SS. Peter and Paul; the Cadet 
Party was outlawed by decree and the houses of its leaders raided. 
On January 8, 1918, it was announced that the Bolsheviki had 
determined that all loans and Treasury bonds held by foreign 
subjects, abroad or in Russia, were repudiated. 

During this period the Bolsheviki's Foreign Secretary aston- 
ished the world by making public the secret treaties between 
Russia and foreign governments in the early years of the war. 
These treaties dealt with the proposed annexation by Russia of the 
Dardanelles, Constantinople and certain areas in Asia Minor; 
with the French claim on Alsace-Lorraine and the left bank of the 
Rhine; with offers to Greece, for the purpose of inducing her to 
assist Serbia; with plans to alter her Western boundaries, with 
the British and Russian control of Persia; and with Italy's desire 
to annex certain Austrian territories. These treaties had been 
seized upon the Bolsheviki assumption of power, and were now 
repudiated by the new government. 

During the period of the armistice Lenine began his move 
for a separate peace, in spite of the formal protests of the Allied 
representatives at Petrograd. 

The first sitting took place on Saturday, December 22, 1917. 
Among the delegates were Dr. Richard von Kiihlmann, Foreign 
Minister, and General Hoffman, of Germany; Count Czernin, 
Foreign Minister of Austria-Hungary; Minister Kopov, of Bulgaria; 
Nesimy Bey, former Foreign Minister of Turkey, and a large 
delegation from Russia, composed of Bolshevist leaders. Dr. von 
Kiihlmann was chosen as the presiding officer and made the 
opening speech. The Russian peace demands and the German 
counter-proposals were then read, and considered. 

The German proposals proved unacceptable to Russia, and a 
second session of the peace conference was held at Brest-Litovsk 
on January 10, 1918. Trotzky himself attended this meeting as 



454 



HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR 



one of the representatives from Russia, and there was also a repre- 
sentative from Ukraine, which had declared its independence, and 
was allowed to join the conference. General Hoffman protested 
strongly against the Russian endeavor to make appeals of a revo- 
lutionary character to the German troops. 

The armistice having expired, it was agreed it should be con- 
tinued to February 12th. After a long and acrimonious debate 
the Conference broke up in a clash over the evacuation of the 
Russian provinces. On January 24th it was announced that the 




Talwran ]^ / ^.tfaj) 




Russia as Partitioned by the Brest-Litovsk Treaty 

Russian delegates to the peace conference had unanimously decided 
to reject the German terms. They stated that when they asked 
Germany's final terms General Hoffman of the German delegation 
had replied by opening a map and pointing out a line from the 
shores of the Gulf of Finland to the east of the Moon Sound Islands, 
to Valk, to the west of Minsk, to Brest-Litovsk, thus eHminating 
Courland and all the Baltic provinces. 

Asked the terms of the Central Powers in regard to the terri- 
tory south of Brest-Litovsk General Hoffman replied that was a 
question which they would discuss only with Ukraine. M. Kam- 



THE DESCENT TO BOLSHEVISM 



455 



inev asked: ''Supposing we do not agree to such condition, what 
are you going to do?" 

General Hoffman's answer was, ''Within a week we would 
occupy Eeval." 

On January 27th, Trotzky made his report to the Soviets at 
Petrograd. After a thorough explanation of the peace debates, 
he declared that the Government of the Soviets could not sign 




General Map of the Baltic Sea 

With the collapse of Russia German forces advanced from Riga, along the Gulf of 

Finland occupying Reval and threatening Petrograd. 

such a peace. It was then decided to demobilize the Prussian army 
and withdraw from the war. 

Final sessions of the peace congress were resumed at Brest- 
Litovsk January 29th; a peace treaty was made between the 
Central Powers and the Ukraine, and the Bolsheviki yielded to the 
German demands without signing a treaty. Meanwhile the 
Russian Constituent Assembly which met at Petrograd on Janu- 
ary 19th, was dissolved on January 20th, by the Bolsheviki Council. 



456 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR 

Disorders continued throughout all Russia and counter-revo- 
lutionary movements were started at many places. On Febru- 
ary 18th, the day when the armistice agreement between Prussia 
and the Central Powers expired, German forces began a new 
invasion of Russia. The next day the Bolshevist Government 
issued a statement, announcing that Russia would be compelled 
to sign a peace. The German advance went on rapidly, and many 
important Russian cities were occupied. On February 24th, the 
Bolshevist Government announced that peace terms had been 
accepted, and a treaty was signed at Brest-Litovsk on March 3d. 

On March 14th the All-Russia Council of Soviets voted to 
ratify the treaty, after an all-night sitting. Lenine pronounced 
himself in favor of accepting the German terms; Trotzky stood for 
war, but did not attend the meetings of the Council. Lenine 
defended the step by pointing out that the country was completely 
unable to offer resistance, and that peace was indispensable for 
the completion of the social war in Russia. 

The new treaty dispossessed Pv^ussia of territories amoimting 
to nearly one-quarter of the area of European Russia, and inhabited 
by one-third of Russia's total population. Trotzky resigned on 
account of his opposition to the treaty and was succeeded by M. 
Tchitcherin. He became Chairman of the Petrograd Labor 
Commune. The treaty between Russia and the Central Powers 
was formally denounced by the Premiers and Foreign Ministers 
of Great Britain, France, and Italy, and was not^recognized by the 
AUied nations. 

A final revocation of its provisions by both sides did not put 
an end to the mihtary operations of the Central Powers in Russia, 
nor did the Russians cease to make feeble and sporadic attempts 
at resistance. Germany was forced to keep large bodies of troops 
along the Russian front, but formally Russia's part in the war had 
come to an end. 



g 

w 

CO 
CO 

w 

O 

w 

!« 
C/3 

O 

o 
w 
c» 
H 

a 
o 

H 
t— I 

O 

O 
H 

CO 

H 

W 





CHAPTER XXXII 

Germany's Object Lesson to the United States. 

URING the first two years of the war many Americans, 
especially those in the West, observed the great events 
which were happening with great interest, no doubt, but 
with a feehng of detachment. The war was a long 
way oE. The Atlantic Ocean separated Europe from America, 
and it seemed almost absurd to think that the Great War could 
ever affect us. 

In the year 1916, however, two events happened which seemed 
to bring the war to our door. The first was the arrival at Baltimore, 
on July 9th, of the Deutschland, a German submarine of great size, 
built entirely for commercial purposes, and the second was the 
appearance, on the 7th of October, of a German war submarine in 
the harbor at Nev/port, Rhode Island, and its exploit on the follow- 
ing day when it sunk a number of British and neutral vessels just 
outside the three-mile Hne on the Atlantic coast. 

The performances of these two vessels were equally suggestive, 
but the popular feeling with regard to what they had done was very 
divergent. The voyage of the Deutschland roused the widest 
admiration but the action of the XJ-53 stirred up the deepest indigna- 
tion. Yet the voyages of each showed with equal clearness that, 
however much America might consider herself separated from the 
Great War, the new scientific invention, the submarine, had anni- 
hilated space, and America, too, was now but a neighbor of the 
nations at war. 

The voyage of the Deutschland was a romance in itself. It 
was commanded by Captain Paul Koenig, a German officer of the 
old school. He had been captain of the Schleswig of the North 
German Lloyd, and of other big liners. When the power of the 
British fleet drove German commerce from the seas, he had found 
himself without a job, and, as he phrased it, ''was drifting about the 
country like a derelict." One day, in September, 1915, he was 
asked to meet Herr Alfred Lohmann, an agent of the North German 

459 



460 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR 

Lloyd Line, and surprised by an offer to navigate a submarine 
cargo ship from Germany to America. Captain Koenig, who 
seems to have been in every way an admirable personage, at once 
consented. He has told us the story of his trip in his interesting 
book called ''The Voyage of the Deutschland." 

The Deutschland itself was three hundred feet long, thirty 
feet wide, and carried one thousand tons of cargo and a crew of 
twenty-nine men. It cost a haK a milhon dollars, but paid for 
itseK in the first trip. According to Captain Koenig the voyage 
on the whole seems to have been most enjoyable. He understood 
his boat well and had watched its construction. Before setting 
out on his voyage he carefully trained his crew, and experimented 
with the Deutschland until he was thoroughly famiUar with all its 
pecuHarities. The cargo was composed of dye stuffs, and the ship 
was well supplied with provisions and comforts. In his description 
of the trip he lays most emphasis upon the discomfort resulting 
from heavy weather and from storms. He was able to avoid all 
danger from hostile ships by the very simple process of diving. No 
EngUsh ship approached him closely as he was always able to see 
them from a distance, usually observing their course by means of 
their smoke. 

One of his liveliest adventures, however, occurred when 
attempting to submerge suddenly during a heavy sea on the 
appearance of a destroyer. The destroyer apparently never 
observed the Deutschland, but in the endeavor to dive quickly 
the submarine practically stood on its head, and dived down into 
the mud, where it found itself held fast. Captain Koenig however 
was equal to the emergency, and by balancing and trimming the 
tanks he finally restored the center of gravity and released his boat. 

A considerable portion of his trip was passed upon the surface 
as he only submerged when there was suspicion of danger. Accord- 
ing to his story his men kept always in the highest spirits. They 
had plenty of music, and doubtless appreciated the extraordinary 
nature of their voyage. 

An amusing incident during the trip was the attempt to camou- 
flage his ship by a frame work, made of canvas and so constructed 
as to give the outline of a steamer. One day a hostile steamer 
appeared in the distance and Captain Koenig proceeded to test his 
disguise. After great diflSculties, especially in connection with the 



GERMANY'S OBJECT LESSON 461 

production of smoke, he finally had the whole construction fairly at 
work. The steamer, which had been peacefully going its way, on 
seeing the new ship suddenly changed her course and steered directly 
toward the Deutschland. It evidently took the Deutschland for 
some kind of a wreck and was hurrying to give it assistance. Cap- 
tain Koenig at once pulled off his super-structure and revealed 
himself as a submarine, and the strange vessel veered about and 
hiu"ried off as fast as it could. 

On the arrival of the Deutschland in America Captain Koenig 
and his crew found their difficulties over. All arrangements had 
been made by representatives of the North German Lloyd for their 
safety and comfort. As they ran up Chesapeake Bay they were 
greeted by the whistles of the neutral steamers that they passed. 
The moving-picture companies immortahzed the crew and they 
were treated with the utmost hospitality. 

The AUied governments protested that the Deutschland was 
really a war vessel and on the 12th of July a commission of three 
American naval officers was sent down from Washington to make an 
investigation. The investigation showed the Deutschland was 
absolutely unarmed and the American Government decided not to 
interfere. 

The position of the Allies was that a submarine, even though 
without guns or torpedoes, was practically a vessel of war from its 
very nature, and for it to pretend to be a merchant vessel was as if 
some great German man-of-w^ar should dismount its guns and pass 
them over to some tender and then undertake to visit an American 
port. They argued that if the submarine would come out from 
harbor it might be easily fitted with detachable torpedo tubes, and 
become as dangerous as any U-boat. Even without arms it might 
easily sink an unarmed merchant vessel by ramming. But the 
United States was not convinced, and American citizens rather 
admired the genial captain. 

His return was almost as uneventful as lis voyage out. At 
the very beginning he had trouble in not being able to rise after an 
experimental dive. This misadventure was caused by a plug of 
mud which had stopped up the opening of the manometer. But the 
difficulty was overcome, and he was able to pass under water between 
the British ships which were on the lookout. His return home was 
a triumph. Hundreds of thousands of people gathered along the 



462 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR 

banks of the Weser, filled with the greatest enthusiasm. Poems 
were written in his honor and his appearance was everywhere greeted 
with enthusiastic applause. The Germans felt sure that through 
the Deutschland and similar boats they had broken the British 
blockade. 

Captain Koenig made a second voyage, landing at New London, 
Connecticut, on November 1st, where he took on a cargo of rubber, 
nickel and other valuable commodities. On November 16th, in 
attempting to get away to sea, he met with a coUision with the tug 
T. A. Scott, Jr., and had to return to New London for repairs. He 
concluded his voyage, however, without difficulty. In spite of his 
success the Germans did not make any very great attempt to 
develop a fleet of submarine cargo boats. 

The other German act which brought home to Americans the 
possibilities of the submarine, the visit of the U-53, was a very 
different sort of matter. U-53 was a German submarine of the 
largest type. On October 7, 1916, it made a sudden appearance at 
Newport, and its captain, Lieutenant-Captain Hans Rose, was 
entertained as if he were a welcome guest. He sent a letter to the 
German Ambassador at Washington and received visitors in his 
beautiful boat." The U-53 was a war submarine, two hundred and 
thirteen feet long, with two deck guns and four torpedo tubes. It 
had been engaged in the war against Allied commerce in the Medi- 
terranean. Captain Rose paid formal visits to Rear- Admiral 
Austin Knight, Commander of the United States Second Naval 
District, stationed at Newport, and Rear-Admiral Albert Gleaves, 
Commander of the American destroyer flotilla at that place, and 
then set out secretly to his destination 

On the next day the news came in that the U-53 had sunk 
five merchant vessels. These were the Strathdene, which was tor- 
pedoed; the West Point, a British freighter, also torpedoed; the 
Stephano, a passenger liner between New York and Halifax, which 
the submarine attempted to sink by opening its sea valves but was 
finally torpedoed; the Blommersdijk, a Dutch freighter, and the 
Cliristian Knudsen, a Norwegian boat. The American steamer 
Kansan was also stopped, but allowed to proceed. When the 
submarine began its work wireless signals soon told what was 
happening, and Admiral Knight, with the Newport destroyer 
flotilla, hurried to the rescue. These destroyers picked up two 



GERMANY'S OBJECT LESSON 463 

hundred and sixteen men and acted with such promptness that not 
a single life was lost. 

The action of the U-53 produced intense excitement in America. 
The newspapers were filled with editorial denunciation, and the 
people were roused to indignation. The American Government 
apparently took the ground that the Germans were acting according 
to law and according to their promise to America. They had 
given warning in each case and allowed the crews of the vessels 
which they sunk to take to their boats. This was believed to be a 
fulfilment of their pledge ''not to sink merchant vessels without 
warning and without saving human lives, unless the ship attempts 
to escape or offers resistance." 

The general feeling, however, cf American public opinion was 
that it was a brutal act. In the case of the Stephano there v/ere 
ninety-four passengers. These, together with the crew, were 
placed adrift in boats at eight o'clock in the evening, in a rough 
sea sixty miles away from the nearest land. If the American 
destroyer fleet had not rushed to the rescue it is extremely likely 
that a great many cf these boats would never have reached land. 
The German Government did not save these human lives. It was 
the American navy which did that. But, technicalities aside, the 
pride of the American people was wounded. They could not 
tolerate a situation in which American men-of-war should stand 
idly by and watch a submarine in a leisurely manner sink ships 
engaged in American trade whose passengers and crews contained 
many American citizens. 

It was another one of those foohsh things that Germans were 
constantly doing, which gave them no appreciable military advan- 
tage, but stirred up against them the sentiment of the world. The 
Germans perhaps were anxious to show the power of the submarines, 
and to give America an object lesson in that power. They wished 
to make plain that they could destroy overseas trade, and that if the 
United States should endeavor to send troops across the water they 
would be able to sink those troops. 

The Germans probably never seriously contemplated a blockade 
of the American coast The U-53 returned to its base and the 
danger was ended. American commerce went peacefully on, and 
the net result of the German audacity was in the increase of bitter- 
ness in the popular feeling toward the German methods. 




CHAPTER XXXIII 

America Transformed by Wak 

HEN Germany threw down the gauge of battle to the 
civilized world, the German High Command calcu- 
lated that the long, rigorous and thorough military 
training to which every male German had submitted, 
would make a mihtary force invincible in the field. The High 
Command beheved that a nation so trained would carve out vic- 
tory after victory and would end the World War before any nation 
could train its men sufficiently to check the Teutonic rush. 

To that theory was opposed the democratic conception that 
the free nations of earth could train their young men intensively 
for six months and send these vigorous free men into the field to 
win the final decision over the hosts of autocrac}^. 

These antagonistic theories were tried out to a finish in the 
World War and the theory of democracy, developed in the training 
camps of America, Canada, Austraha, Britain, France and Italy, 
triumphed. Especially in the training camps of America was the 
German theory disproved. There within six months the best 
fighting troops on earth were developed and trained in the most 
modern of war-time practices. Everything that Germany could 
devise found its answer in American ingenuity, American endurance 
and American skill. 

The entrance of America into the tremendous conflict on 
April 6, 1917 was folio vfed immediately by the mobifization of the 
entire nation. Business and industry of every character were 
represented in the Council of National Defense which acted as a 
great central functioning organization for all industries and agencies 
connected with the prosecution of the war. Executives of rare 
talent commanding high salaries tendered their services freely to 
the government. These were the "dollar a year men" whose 
productive genius was to bear fruit in the clothing, arming, pro- 
visioning, munitioning and transportation of four million men and 
the conquest of Germany by a veritable avalanche of war material. 

464 



AMERICA TRANSFORMED BY WAR 465 

Out of the ranks of business and science came Hurley, Schwab, 
Piez, Coonley to drive forward a record-breaking shipbuilding 
program, Stettinius to speed up the manufacture of munitions, 
John W. Ryan to coordinate and accelerate the manufacture of 
airplanes, Vance C. McCormick and Dr. Alonzo E. Taylor to solve 
the problems of the War Trade Board, Hoover to multiply food 
production, to conserve food supplies and to place the army and 
citizenry of America upon food rations while maintaining the morale 
of the AlHes through sicientific food distribution and a host of other 
patriotic civilians who put the resources of the nation behind the 
military and naval forces opposed to Germany. Every available 
loom was put at work to make cloth for the army and the navy, 
the leather market was drained of its supplies to shoe our forces 
with wear adapted to the drastic requirements of modern warfare. 

German capital invested in American plants was placed under 
the jurisdiction of A. Mitchell Palmer as Alien Property Cus- 
todian. German ships were seized and transformed into American 
transports. Physicians over military age set a glorious example of 
patriotic devotion by their enlistment in thousands. Lawyers 
and citizens generally in the same category as to age entered the 
office of the Judge Advocate General or the ranks of the Four 
Minute Men or the American Protective League which rendered 
great service to the country in exposing German propaganda and 
in placing would-be slackers in miHtary service. Bankers led the 
mighty Liberty Loan and "War Savings Stamp drives and unsel- 
fishly placed the resources of their institutions at the service of the 
government. 

Women and children ralHed to the fiag with an intensity of pur- 
pose, sacrifice and effort that demonstrated how completely was 
the heart of America in the v/ar. Y/ork in shops, fields, hospitals, 
Red Cross work rooms and elsevv^here was cheerfully and enthusi- 
astically performed and the sacrifices of food rationing, higher 
prices, Hghtless nights, gasohneless Sundays, diminished steam 
railway and trolley service were accepted with a multitude of minor 
inconvenience without a murmur. Congress had a free hand in 
making appropriations. The country approved without a minute's 
hesitation bills for taxation that in other days would have brought 
ruin to the political party proposing them.^ Billions were voted to 
departments where hundreds of thousands had been the rule. 



466 



HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR 




AMERICA TRANSFORMED BY WAR 467 

The true temper of the American people was carefully hidden 
from the German people by the German newspapers acting under 
instructions from the Imperial Government. Instead of the truth, 
false reports were printed in the newspapers of Berlin and else- 
where that the passage of the American conscription law had been 
followed by rioting and rebellion in many places and that fully 
fifty per cent of the American people was opposed to the declara- 
tion of war. The fact that the selective service act passed in 
May, 1917, was accepted by everybody in this country as a wholly 
equitable and satisfactory law did not permeate into Germany until 
the first American Expeditionary Force had actually landed in 
France. 

America's fighting power was demonstrated conclusively to the 
Germanic intellect at Seicheprey, Bouresches ¥/ood, Belleau Wood, 
Chateau-Thierry, and in the Forest of the Argonne. Especially was 
it demonstrated when it came to fighting in small units, or in in- 
dividual fighting. The highly disciplined and highly trained Ger- 
man soldiers were absolutely unfitted to cope with Americans, 
Canadians and Australians when it came to matching individual 
against individual, or small group against small group. 

This was shown in the wild reaches of the Forest of the 
Argonne. There the machine-gun nests of the Germans were iso- 
lated and demolished speedily. Small parties of Germans were 
stalked and run down by the relentless Americans. On the other 
hand, the Germans could make no headway against the American 
troops operating in the Forest. The famous ''Lost Battalion" of 
the 308th United States Infantry penetrated so far in advance of 
its supports that it was cut off for four days without food, water or 
suppHes of munitions in the Argonne. The enemy had cut its 
line of communication and was enforced both in front and in the 
rear. Yet the lost battalion, comprising two companies armed 
with rifles and the French automatic rifle known as the Chauchat 
gun, called by the doughboys ''Sho Sho," held out against the 
best the overpowering forces of the Germans could send against 
them, and were ultimately rescued from their dangerous position. 

The training of the Americans was also in modern efficiency 
that made America prominent in the M^orld of industry. The 
reduction of the German salient at St. Mihiel was an object lesson 
to the Germans in American methods. General Pershing com- 



468 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR 

manding that operation in person, assembled the newspaper cor- 
respondents the day before the drive. Maps were shown, giving 
the extent and locale of the attack. The correspondents v/ere 
invited to follow the American troops and a time schedule for the 
advance was given to the various corps commanders. 

In that operation, 152 square miles of territory and 72 
villages were captured outright. For the reduction of the German 
defenses and for the creeping barrage preceding the American 
advance, more than 1,500,000 shells v/ere fired by the artillery. 
Approximately 100,000 detail maps and 40,000 photographs pre- 
pared largely from aerial observations, were issued for the guidance 
of the artillery and the infantry. These maps and photographs 
detailed all the natural and artificial defenses of the entire sahent. 
More than 5,000 miles of telephone wire was laid by American 
engineers immediately preceding the attack, and as the Americans 
advanced on the morning of the battle, September 12, 1918, 6,000 
telephone instruments were connected with this wire. Ten thous- 
and men were engaged in operating the hastily constructed tele- 
phone system; 3,000 carrier pigeons supplemented this work. 

During the battle American airplanes swept the skies clear 
of enemy air-craft and signaled instructions to the artillery, 
besides attacking the moving infantry, artillery and supply trains 
of the enemy. So sure were the Americans of their success that 
moving-picture operators took more than 10,000 feet of moving 
picture film showing the rout of the Germans. Four thousand 
eight hundred trucks carried food, men and munitions into the 
fines. Miles of American raihoads, both of standard and narrow 
gauge, carrying American-made equipment, assisted in the trans- 
portation of men and suppfies. Hospital facifities including 35 
hospital trains, 16,000 beds in the advanced sector, and 55,000 
other beds back of the fighting line, were prepared. Less than 
ten per cent of this hospital equipment was used. 

As the direct consequence of this preparation, which far out- 
stripped anything that any other nation had attempted in a similar 
offensive, the Americans with a remarkably small casualty list 
took 15,188 prisoners, 111 guns, many of them of large caHber, 
immense quantities of munitions and other supplies, and inflicted 
heavy death losses upon the fleeing Germans. 

Two selective service laws operated as manhood conscription. 



AMERICA TRANSFORMED BY WAR 469 

The first of these took men between the ages of twenty-one and 
thirty-one years inclusive. June 5, 1917, was fixed as registration 
day. The total number enrolled was 9,586,508. The first selec- 
tive army drawn from this number was 625,000 men. 

The second selective service legislation embraced all citizens 
between the ages of 18 and 45 inclusive, not included in the first 
draft. Over 13,000,000 men enrolled on September 12, 1918. 
fe| The grand total of registrants in both drafts was 23,456,021. 
Youths who had not completed their 19th year were set apart in a 
group to be called last and men between thirty-six and forty-five 
were also put in a deferred class. The government's plan was to 
have approximately 5,000,000 men under arms before the sum- 
mer of 1919. The German armistice on November 11th found 
4,000,000 men actually under arms and an assignment of 250,000 
made to the training camps. 

A most important factor in the training plans of the United 
States was that incorporated in the organization of the Students' 
Army Training Corps, by which 359 American colleges and uni- 
versities were taken over by the government and 150,000 young 
men entered these institutions for the purpose of becoming trained 
soldiers. The following are the conditions under which the 
S. A. T. C. was organized: 

The War Department undertook to furnish officers, uniforms, 
rifles, and equipment, and to assign the students to military duty, 
after a few months, either at an officers' training camp or in some 
technical school, or in a regular army cantonment with troops 
as a private, according to the degree of aptitude shown on the 
college campus. 

At the same time a circular letter to the presidents of colleges 
arranged for a contract under which the government became 
responsible for the expense of the housing, subsistence, and instruc- 
tion of the students. The preliminary arrangement contained this 
provision, among others: 

The per diem rate of -fl for subsistence and housing is to govern 
temporarily, pending examination of the conditions in the individual 
institution and a careful working out of the costs involved. The amount 
so fixed is calculated from the experience of this committee during the 
last five months in contracting with over 100 collegiate institutions for 
the housing and subsistence of over 100,000 soldiers in the National 



470 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR 

Army Training Detachment. This experience indicates that the average 
cost of housing is 15 to 20 cents per day; subsistence (army ration or 
equivalent), 70 to 80 cents per day. The tuition charge is based on the 
regular per diem tuition charge of the institution in the year 1917-18. 

A permanent contract was arranged later under these govern- 
ing principles : 

The basis of payment will be reimbursement for actual and necessary 
costs to the institutions for the services rendered to the government in 
the maintenance and instruction of the soldiers with the stated limitation 
as to cost of instruction. Contract price will be arrived at by agreement 
after careful study of the conditions in each case, in conference with 
authorities of the institution. 

The War Department will have authority to specify and control the 
courses of instruction to be given by the institution. 

The entity and power for usefulness of the institutions will be safe- 
guarded so that when the contract ends the institutions shall be in condi- 
tion to resume their functions of general education. 

The teaching force wiU be preserved so far as practicable, and this 
matter so treated that its members shall feel that in changing to the special 
intensive work desired by the government they are rendering a vital and 
greatly needed service. 

The government will ask from the institutions a specific service; 
that is, the housing, subsistence, and instruction along specified lines of a 
certain number of student soldiers. There will be no interference with the 
freedom of the institution in conducting other courses in the usual way. 

The contract will be for a fixed term, probably nine months, subject 
to renewal for a further period on reasonable notice, on terms to be agreed 
upon and subject to cancellation on similar terms. 

The story of the life of the American army behind the lines in 
France would fill a volume. The hospitality of the French people 
had something pathetic in it. They were expecting miracles of 
their new Allies. They were war sick. Nearly all of them had 
lost some father, or brother, or husband, and here came these big, 
hearty, joyous soldiers, full of ardor and confident of victory. 
It put a new spirit into all France. Their reception when they 
first landed was a scene of such fervor and enthusiasm as had 
never been known before and probably will not be known again. 
Soon the American soldier, in his khaki, with his wide-brimmed 
soft hat, became a common sight. 

The villagers put up bunting, calico signs, flags and had 
stocks of American canned goods to show in their shop windows. 
The children, when bold, played with the American soldiers, and 



AMERICA TRANSFORMED BY WAR 471 

the children that were more shy ventured to go up and touch an 
American soldier's leg. Very old peasant ladies put on their 
Sunday black, and went out walking, and in some mysterious way 
talking with American soldiers. The village mayors turned out 
and made speeches, utterly incomprehensible to the American 
soldiers. 

The engineering, building and machinery works the Americans 
put up were astonishing. Gangs of workers went over in thousands; 
many of these were college men. They dug and toiled as efficiently 
as any laborer. One American major told with glee how a party 
of these young workers arrived straight from America at 3.30 p. m. 
and started digging at 5 A. m. next morning, ''and they liked it, 
it tickled them to death." Many of these draftees, in fact, were 
sick and tired of inaction in ports before their departure from 
America, and they welcomed work in France as if it were some 
great game. 

Perhaps the biggest work of all the Americans performed 
was a certain aviation camp and school. In a few months it was 
completed, and it was the biggest of its kind in the world. The 
number of airplanes used merely for training was in itself remarkable. 
The flying men — or boys — who had, of course, already been broken- 
in in America, did an additional course in France, and when they left 
the aviation camp they were absolutely ready for air-fighting at 
the front. This was the finishing school. The aviators went 
through eight distinct courses in the school. They were perfected 
in flying, in observation, in bombing, in machine-gun firing. On 
even a cloudy and windy day the air overhead buzzed with these 
young American fliers, all getting into the pink of condition to do 
their stunts at the front. They lived in the camp, and it required 
moving heaven and earth for one of them to get leave to go even 
to the nearest little quiet old town. 

An impression of complete businesslike determination was 
what one got when visiting the Americans in France. A discipline 
even stricter than that which appfied in British and French troops 
was in force. In towns, officers, for instance, were not allowed out 
after 9 p. m. Some towns where subalterns discovered the wine 
of the country were instantly put "out of bounds." No officer, 
on any pretext whatsoever was allowed to go to Paris except on 
official business. 



472 



HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR 



The postal censors who read the letters of the American 
Expeditionary Force were required to know forty-seven languages! 
Of these languages, the two least used were Chinese and German. 

The announcement of the organization of the first American 
Field Army was contained in the following dispatch from France, 
August 11, 1918: 

''The first American field army has been organized. It is 
under the direct command of General John J. Pershing, Commander- 
in-Chief of the American forces. The corps commanders thus 




The state of German civilian morale. 

Variations in Germany's military position. 

Degree of political unity in Germany. 

The Food situation in North Germany. 

Condition of Austria -Hungary. 

C-Boat sinkings. (Monthly reports of tonnage sunk.) 



The Secretary of War's Official Chart 

This reproduction of Secretary Baker's chart, which hung in his ofl&ce at Washington, 

illustrates graphically Germany's success and failure in the war. 

far announced are Major-Generals Liggett, Bullard, Bundy, Read, 
and Wright. 

''The creation of the first field army is the first step toward 
the coordination of all the American forces in France. This 
does not mean the immediate withdrawal from the British and 
French commands of all American units, and it is probable that 
divisions will be used on the French and British fronts for weeks 
yet. It is understood, however, that the policy of organizing other 
armies will be carried out steadily." 

This announcement marked a milestone in the military effort 
of the United States. When the American troops first arrived in 
France, they were associated in small units with the French to 
get primary training. Gradually regiments began to function 



AMERICA THANSFORMED BY WAR 



473 



under French division commanders. Then American divisions 
were formed and trained under French corps commanders. Next, 
American corps began to operate under French army commanders. 
Finally, the first American army was created, because enough 
divisions and corps had been graduated from the school of experience. 
An American division numbers 30,000 men, and a corps con- 
sists of six divisions, two of which play the part of reserves. With 
auxihary troops, air squadrons, tank sections, heavy artillery, 
and other branches, a corps numbers from 225,000 to 250,000 men. 




The main line in this graph- 
civilian morale in Germany. 

German morale is arbitrarily regarded as standing at 100% in August, 1914. 

Zero, for the same line, is taken to be the point at which an effective major- 
ity of the German people will refuse longer to support the war. 

The degree of movement of this line is determined mainly by a consideration 
of the deflections of the secondary lines which represent the forces exerting the 
greatest influence on the German state of mind. 

Showing Germany's Road to Defeat 

Austria's fluctuations are indicated, as well as the morale, military position, political 

and food conditions and undersea enterprises of Germany. 



The following were the general officers temporarily assigned 
to command the first five corps: 

First corps — Major-General Hunter Liggett. 

Second corps — Major-General Robert L. BuUard. 

Third corps — Major-General William M. Wright. 

Fourth corps — Major-General George W. Read. 

Fifth corps — Major-General Omar Bundy. 

Seven divisions and one separate regiment of American troops 
participated in the counter-offensive between Chateau-Thierry 
and Soissons and in resisting the German attack in the Champagne, 
it was officially stated on July 20. The 42d, or ''Rainbow" 
Division, composed of National Guard troops from twenty-six 



474 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR 

states and the District of Columbia, including the New York 
69th Infantry, now designated as the 165th Infantry, took part in 
the fighting in the Champagne east of Rheims. The six other 
divisions were associated with the French in the counter-offensive 
between Chateau-Thierry and Soissons. These divisions were the 
1st, 2d, 3d and 4th of the Regular Army, the 26th National 
Guard Division, composed of troops from the six New England 
States^ and the 28th, composed of the Pennsylvania National 
Guard. Marines were included in this number. The separate 
regiment that fought in the Champagne was a negro unit attached 
to the new 93d Division, composed entirely of negro troops. It 
vras also announced that the 77th Division was ''in the Hne near 
Lun^ville" and was "operating as a division, complete under its 
own commander." 

The 42d Division had the distinction. General March an- 
nounced on August 3d, of defeating the 4th Division of the crack 
Prussian Guards, professional soldiers of the German standing army, 
who had never before failed. General March also disclosed the 
fact that another American division had been sent into that part 
of the Rheims salient where the Germans showed resistance. This 
was the 32d Division. ''The American divisions in the Rheims 
salient," General March said, "have now been put in contiguously 
and are actually getting together as an American force. Southeast 
of Fere-en-Tardenois our 1st Corps is operating, with General 
Liggett in actual command." 

The organization of twelve new divisions was announced by 
General March, Chief of Staff, in statements made on July 24th 
and July 31st. These divisions were numerically designated from 
9 to 20, and organized at Camps Devens, Meade, Sheridan, Custer, 
Funston, Lewis, Logan, Kearny, Beauregard, Travis, Dodge, and 
Sevier. Each division had two infantry regiments of the regular 
army as nucleus, the other elements being made up of drafted 
men. The new divisions moved into the designated camps as the 
divisions already trained there moved out. 

The composition of an American division is as follows: 

Two brigades of infantry, each consisting of two regiments of 
infantry and one machine-gun battalion. 

One brigade of artillery, consisting of three regiments of field 
artillery, and one trench mortar battery. 




g) Iidernatioiial Film Service. 

SAFE ON SHORE AT LAST 

Arrival of American troops in Liverpool after defying the perils of the submarine. 
Note the bulk of the packs carried by each soldier m heavy marchmg order. 




© Internatioixal Film Service. 

THE FIRST OF THE TmAL WAVE OF KHAKI 

Beginning with the handful of American soldiers who landed in Franoe on 
June 8, 1917, the flood of troops poured across the ocean m ever mcreasmg 
volume until at the end of the war more than two mdhon soldiers md been 
transported to France, 








2 oa 






O 






^ « 






=3-^ 






>i 1 ^ 






O 03 






a; « 






bCtn 






T3 m 






«^'a 






0) cj 






-£3 a 












cs 8 






'O ^. 






S bC 






^ fl 






"^"C 






2| 




s 


1^ 




O 










o 


«u tn 




W 






o 


o a 




s 


03 CO 




I 






» 


sS 0) g 




< 


s's « 




s 


•2-1$ 




erf •? -Q 




< 


00 ^-3 


-s 


C5 




i 
1 


a 
M 




1 




-S ^ a; 




<3 




o 
o 


05 

5 




s 


o 


'Z^t 


o 


rt 
H 

g 




s 
•2 


<J 


03 >4^ 


1 




U83l 


s 






g 
o 






:§ 






1 




s 




o^.a 


o 




03^ 


© 








V2 « 



AMERICA TRANSFORMED BY WAR 477 

One regiment of engineers. 

One field signal battalion. 

The following trains: Headquarters and military police, 
sanitary, supply, engineer, and ammunition. 

The following division units: Headquarters troop and one 
machine-gun battalion. 

A general order of the War Department providing for the 
consolidation of all branches of the army into one army to be known 
as the '' United States Army" was promulgated by General March 
on August 7th. The text of the order read: 

1. This country has but one army — the United States Army. It 
includes all the land forces in the service of the United States. Those 
forces, however raised, lose their identity in that of the United States 
Army. Distinctive appellations, such as the Regular Army, Reserve 
Corps, National Army, and National Guard, heretofore employed in 
administration command, will be discontinued, and the single term, 
the United States Army, will be exclusively used. 

2. Orders having reference to the United States Army as divided in 
separate and component forces of distinct origin, or assuming or con- 
templating such a division, are to that extent revoked. 

3. The insignia now prescribed for the Regular Army shall hereafter 
be worn by the United States Army. 

4. All effective commissions purporting to be, and described therein, 
as commissions in the Regular Army, National Guard, National Army, 
or the Reserve Corps, shall hereafter be held to be, and regarded as, com- 
missions in the United States Army — permanent, provisional, or tem- 
porary, as fixed by the conditions of their issue; and all such commissions 
are hereby amended accordingly. Hereafter during the period of the 
existing emergency all commissions of officers shall be in the United States 
Army and in staff corps, departments, and arms of the service thereof, and 
shaU, as the law may provide, be permanent, for a term, or for the period 
of the emergency. And hereafter during the period of the existing emer- 
gency provisional and temporary appointments in the grade of second 
lieutenant and temporary promotions in the Regular Army and appoint- 
ments in the Reserve Corps will be discontinued. 

5. While the number of commissions in each grade and each staff 
corps, department, and arm of the service shall be kept within the hmits 
fixed by law, officers shall be assigned without reference to the term of 
their conomissions solely in the interest of the service; and officers and 
enlisted men will be transferred from one organization to another as the 
interests of the service may require. 

6. Except as otherv/ise provided by law, promotion in the United 
States Army shall be by selection. Permanent promotions in the Regular 
Army will continue to be m.ade as prescribed by law. 




CHAPTER XXXIV 

How Food Won the War 

lOOD won the war. Without the American farmer the 
Entente Allies must have capitulated. Wheat, beef, corn, 
foods of every variety, hermetically sealed in tins, were 
thrown into the scales on the side of the Entente Allies in 
sufficient quantities to tip the balance toward the side of civihza- 
tion and against autocracy. Late in the fall of 1918 when victory 
was assured to America and the Allies, there was received this 
message of appreciation from General Pershing to the farmers of 
America, through Carl Vrooman, Assistant Secretary of Agriculture: 

American Expeditionary Forces, 
Office of the Commander-in-Chief, France, 

October 16, 1918. 
Honorable Carl Yhooman, Assistant Secretary of Agriculture: 

Dear Mr. Vrooman : — Will you please convey to farmers of America 
our profound appreciation of their patriotic services to the country and 
to the Allied armies in the field. They have furnished their full quota of 
fighting men; they have bought largely of Liberty Bonds; and they have 
increased their production of food crops both last year and this by over a 
thousand million bushels above normal production. Food is of vital 
miHtary necessity for us and for our Allies, and from the day of our entry 
into the war America's armies of food producers have rendered invaluable 
service to the Allied cause by supporting the soldiers at the front through 
their devoted and splendidly successful work in the fields and furrows 
at home. 

Very sincerely, 

John J. Pershing. 

This tribute to the men and women on the farms of America 
from the head of the American forces in France is fit recognition of 
the important part played by American food producers in the war. 
It was early recognized by all the belligerent powers that final 
victory was a question of national morale and national endurance. 
Morale could not be maintained without food. The bread lines in 

478 



HOW FOOD WON THE WAR 479 

Petrograd gave birth to the revolution, and Eussian famine was the 
mother of Russian terrorism. German men and women, starved 
of fats and sweets, deteriorated so rapidly that the crime ratio 
both in towns and country districts mounted appallingly Condi- 
tions in Austria-Hungary were even worse. Acute distress arising 
from threatening famine was instrumental in driving Bulgaria out 
of the war. The whole of Central Europe indeed was in the 
shadow of famine and the masses were crying out for peace at any 
price. 

On the other hand, Germany's greatest reliance for a victorious 
decision lay in the U-boat blockade of Great Britain, France and 
Italy. Though some depredations came to these countries, the 
submarine blockade never fully materialized and with its failure 
Germany's hopes faded and died. 

The Entente Allies and the United States were fortunate in 
securing Herbert C. Hoover to administer food distribution through- 
out their lands and to stimulate food production by the farmers of 
the United States. After his signal success in the administration 
of the Belgian Relief Commission, Mr. Hoover became the unani- 
mous choice of the Allies for the victuahng of the militant and 
civilian populations after America's entrance into the World War. 
His work divided itself into three heads: 

First, stimulation of food production. 

Second, elimination of food wastage in the homes and public 
eating places of the country. 

Thkd, education of food dealers and the public in the use of 
such foods as were substitutes for wheat, rye, pork, beef and 
sugar. 

After long and acrimonious debates in Congress, Mr. Hoover, 
as Federal Food Administrator, was clothed with extraordinary 
powers enabling him to fulfil the purposes for which he was 
appointed. The abihty with which he and his associates performed 
their work was demonstrated in the complete debacle of Bulgaria, 
Turkey, Austria-Hungary and Germany. These countries v/ere 
starved out quite as truly as they were fought out. The concrete 
evidence of the Food Administration's success is shown in the 
subjoined table which indicates the increase over normal in export- 
ing of foodstuffs by the United States since it became the food reser- 
voir for the world on account of the war. 



480 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR 

TOTAL EXPORTS 





3-year pre- 


1916-17 fiscal 


1917-18 fiscal 


July. 1917, to 


July, 1918. to 




war average. 


year. 


year. 


Sept. 30. 1917. 


Sept. 30. 1918. 


Total beef jjroducts, lbs. . 


186,375,372 


405,427,417 


565,462,445 


93,962,477 


171,986,147 


Total pork products, lbs. . 


996,230,627 


1,498,302.713 


1.691,437,435 


196.256,750 


540,946,324 


Total dairy products, lbs. . 


26,037,790 


351,958,336 


590,798,274 


130,071,165 


161,245,029 


Total vegetable oils, lbs. . 


332,430,537 


206,708,490 


151,029.893 


27,719,553 


26,026,701 


Total grains, bushels .... 


183,777,331 


395,140,238 


*349, 123,235 


66,383,084 


121,668,823 


Total sugar, pounds 


621,745,507 


3,084,390,281 


2.149,787,050 


1.108.559,519 


1,065.398,247 



Upon the same subject Mr. Hoover himself after the harvest 
of 1918 said: 

It is now possible to summarize the shipments of foodstuffs from 
the United States to the alhed countries during the fiscal year just closed — 
practically the last harvest year. These amounts include all shipments 
to allied countries for their and our armies, the civilian population, the 
Belgium rehef, and the Red Cross. The figures indicate the measure of 
effort of the American people in support of allied food suppHes. 

The total value of these food shipments, which were in the main 
purchased through, or with the collaboration of the Food Administration, 
amounted to, roundly, $1,400,000,000 during the fiscal year. 

The shipments of meats and fats (including meat products, dairy 
products, vegetable oils, etc) to allied destinations were as follows: 

Pounds 

Fiscal year 1916-17 2,166,500,000 

Fiscal year 1917-18 3,011,100,000 

Increase 844,600,000 

Our slaughterable animals at the beginning of the last fiscal year were 
not appreciably larger in number than the year before; and particularly 
in hogs, there were probably less. The increase in shipments is due to 
conservation and the extra weight of animals added by our farmers. 

The full effect of these efforts began to bear their best results in the 
last half of the fiscal year, when theexports to the AUieswere 2,133,100,000 
pounds, as against 1,266,500,000 pounds in the same period of the year 
before. This compares with an average of 801,000,000 pounds of total 
exports for the same half years of the three-year pre-war period. 

In cereals and cereal products reduced to terms of cereal bushels, our 
shipments to allied destinations have been: 

Bushels 

Fiscal year 1916-17 259,900,000 

Fiscal year 1917-18 340,800,000 

Increase 80,900,000 

♦Wheat harvest 1917-18 was 200,217,333 bushels below the average of the three previous years. 



HOW FOOD WON THE WAR 481 

Of these cereals our shipments of the prime breadstuffs in the fiscal 
year 1917-18 to allied destinations were: Wheat, 131,000,000 bushels and 
lye 13,900,000 bushels, a total of 144,900,000 bushels. 

The exports to allied destinations during the fiscal year 1916-17 
were: Wheat, 135,100,000 bushels and rye, 2,300,000 bushels, a total 
of 137,400,000 bushels. In addition, some 10,000,000 bushels of 1917 
wheat are now in port for allied destinations or en route thereto. The 
total shipments to allied countries from our last harvest of wheat will be, 
therefore, about 141,000,000 bushels, or a total of 154,900,000 bushels of 
prime breadstuffs. 

In addition to this we have shipped some 10,000,000 bushels to 
neutrals dependent upon us and we have received some imports from 
other quarters. A large part of the other cereals exported has also gone 
into war bread. 

It is interesting to note that since the urgent request of the Allied 
Food Controllers early in the year for a further shipment of 75,000,000 
bushels from our 1917 wheat than originally planned, we shall have shipped 
to Europe, or have en route, nearly 85,000,000 bushels. At the time 
of this request our surplus was already more than exhausted. 

This accomplishment of our people in this matter stands out even 
more clearly if we bear in mind that we had available in the fiscal year 
1916-17 from net carry over and a surplus over our normal consumption 
about 200,000,000 bushels of wheat which we were able to export that 
year without trenching on our home loaf. This last year, however, owing 
to the large failure of the 1917 wheat crop we had available from net 
carry over and production and imports only just about our normal con- 
sumption. Therefore our wheat shipments to allied destinations represent 
approximately savings from our own wheat bread. 

These figures, however, do not fuUy convey the volume of the effort 
and sacrifice made during the past year by the whole American people. 
Despite the magnificent effort of our agricultural population in planting 
a much increased acreage in 1917, not only was there a very large failure in 
wheat, but also the corn failed to mature properly, and corn is our 
dominant crop. 

We calculate that the total nutritional production of the country for 
the fiscal year just closed was between seven per cent and nine per cent 
below the average of the three previous years, our nutritional surplus 
for export in those years being about the same amount as the shrinkage last 
year. Therefore the consumption and waste in food have greatly reduced 
in every direction during the year. 

I am sure that the millions of our people, agricultural as well as urban, 
who have contributed to these results, should feel a very definite satis- 
faction that, in a year of universal food shortage in the Northern 
Hemisphere, all of these people joined together against Germany have 
come through into sight of the coming harvest not only with health and 
strength fully maintained, but with only temporary periods of hardship. 



482 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR 

The European Allies have been compelled to sacrifice more than our own 
people, but we have not failed to load every steamer since the delays of the 
storm months of last winter. 

Our contributions to this end could not have been accomplished with- 
out effort and sacrifice, and it is a matter for further satisfaction, that it 
had been accomplished voluntarily and individually. It is difiicult to 
distinguish between various sections of our people — the homes, public 
eating places, food trades, urban or agricultural populations — in assessing 
credit for these results, but no one will deny the dominant part of the 
American woman. 

But the work of the Food Administration did not come to an 
end with the close of the war. Insistent cries for food came from 
the members of the defeated Teutonic alliance, as well as from the 
suffering AUied and neutral nations. To meet those demands, 
Mr. Hoover sailed for Europe to organize the food relief of the 
needy nations. The State Department, explaining his mission, 
stated that as the first measure of assistance to Belgium it was 
necessary to increase immediately the volume of foodstuffs formerly 
supplied, so as to physicallj^ rehabilitate this under-nourished 
population. The relief commission during the four years of war 
sent to the 10,000,000 people in the occupied area over 600 cargoes of 
food, comprising 120,000,000 bushels of breadstuffs and over 
3,000,000,000 pounds of other foodstuffs besides 20,000,000 gar- 
ments, the whole representing an expenditure of nearly $600,000,000. 
The support of the commission came from the Belgian, British, 
French and American governments, together with public charity. In 
addition to this some $350,000,000 worth of native produce was 
financed internally in Belgium by the relief organization. 

The second portion of Mr. Hoover's mission was to organize and 
determine the need of foodstuffs to the liberated populations in 
Southern Europe — the Czecho-Slovaks, the Jugo-Slavs, and Ser- 
bians, Roumanians and others. 

To meet the conditions in Europe following the armistice of 
November 11, 1918, the employment service of the United States 
set to work laying far-reaching plans for meeting the problem of 
world food shortage. The demands after the war were greater 
than they had been during the conflict but the nation that had 
fed the allies of civilization in war time performed the task of 
feeding the world, friend and foe ahke, when peace at length came 
upon the earth. 




CHAPTER XXXV 

The United States Navy in the War 

ONG before war was declared the United States Government 
had been engaged in preparation. It had reahzed that 
unrestricted submarine warfare was sure to lead to war, and 
though for a time it was preserving what it was pleased to 
call "an armed neutraUty" the President doubtless was well aware 
what such an "armed neutraHty" would lead to. Merchant ships 
were being armed for protection against the submarine, and crews 
from the Navy assigned to work the guns. The first colUsion was 
sure to mean an active state of war. The Naval Department, 
therefore, was working at full speed, getting the Navy ready for 
active service as soon as war should be declared. 

Secretary Daniels made every effort to obtain the crews that 
were necessary to man the new ships which were being fully com- 
missioned with the greatest possible speed and called upon news- 
papers all through the country to do their utmost to stimulate 
enlistment. 

On March 26th President Wilson issued an order increasing 
the enlisted strength of the United States Marine Corps to 17,400 
men, the limit allowed under the law. On March 29th a hundred 
and three ensigns were graduated from the Naval Academy three 
months ahead of their time, and on April 6th, as soon as war was 
declared, the Navy was mobilized. 

Within a few minutes after Secretary Daniels had signed the 
order for this purpose one hundred code messages were sent out 
from the office of Admiral W. S. Benson, Chief of Naval Operations, 
which placed the Navy on a war basis, and put into the control of 
the Navy Department the naval militia of all the states as well as 
the Naval Reserves and the Coast Guard Service. In the Naval 
Mihtia were about 584 officers, and 7,933 men. These v/ere at 
once assembled and assigned to coast patrol service. All of the 
ships that were in active commission in the Navy were already 
ready for duty. But there were reserve battleships and reserve 

483 



484 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR 

destroyers, besides ships which had been out of commission which 
had to be manned as quickly as possible. 

At the beginning of the war there were 361 vessels ready for 
service, including twelve first-line battleships, twenty-five second- 
fine battleships, nine armored cruisers, twenty-four other cruisers, 
seven monitors, fifty destroyers, sixteen coast torpedo vessels, 
seventeen torpedo boats, forty-four submarines, eight tenders to 
torpedo boats, twenty-eight gunboats, four transports, four supply 
ships, one hospital ship, twenty-one fuel ships, fourteen converted 
yachts, forty-nine tugs, and twenty-eight minor vessels. There 
were about seventy thousand regularly enlisted men, besides eight 
thousand five hundred members of the naval mihtia. Many yachts 
together with their volunteer crews had been offered to the govern- 
ment by patriotic citizens. 

For the complete mobilization of the Navy, as it then stood, 
99,809 regularly enhsted men and 45,870 reserves were necessary. 
About twenty-seven thousand of these were needed for coast 
defense, and twelve thousand at the various shore stations. Retired 
officers were called out, and assigned to duty which would permit 
officers on the active list to be employed in sea duty. The Navy 
therefore still lacked thirty-five thousand men to bring it up to its 
full authorized strength at the beginning, but after the declaration 
of war an active recruiting campaign brought volunteers by thou- 
sands. The service was a popular one and recruits were easily 
obtained. 

One of the first phases of the mobilization was the organization 
of a large fleet of mosquito craft to patrol the Atlantic Coast, and 
keep on the watch for submarines. Many of these boats had been 
private yachts, and hundreds of young men volunteered from 
the colleges and schools of the country for this work. Many boat 
builders submitted proposals to construct small boats for this kind 
of patrol duty, and on March 31st a coast patrol fleet was organized 
by the government under the command of Captain Hemy B. 
Wilson. 

The Navy took possession immediately on the declaration of 
war of all wireless stations in the United States dismanthng all that 
could not be useful to the government. War zones were estabhshed 
along the whole coast line of the United States, making a series of 
local barred zones extending from the larger harbors in American 



THE UNITED STATES NAVY IN THE WAK 485 




486 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR 

waters all along the line. These harbors were barred at night 
to entering vessels in order to guard against surprise by German 
submarines. Contracts were awarded for the construction of 
twenty-four destroyers even before war was declared, and many 
more were already under construction. 

The growth of the Navy in one year may give some idea of the 
efficiency of the Navy Department. In April, 1917, the regular 
Navy contained 4,366 officers and 64,680 men. In April, 1918, it 
contained 7,798 officers and 192,385 men. In the Marine Corps in 
1917 there were 426 officers and 13,266 men. In one year this was 
increased to 1,389 officers and 38,629 men. In the organization of 
the Naval Reserves, naval volunteers and coast guards there were 
m 1917, 24,569 men; in 1918, 98,319 men, and 11,477 officers. 

While personnel of the Navy was thus expanding the United 
States battle fleet had grown to more than twice the size of the 
fleet before the war. When w^ar was declared there were under 
construction 123 new naval vessels. These were completed and 
contracts made for 949 new vessels. Among the ships completed are 
fifteen battleships, sbc battle cruisers, seven scout cruisers, twenty- 
seven destroyers, and sixty-one submarines. About eight hundred 
craft were taken over and converted into transports, patrol service 
boats, submarine chasers, mine sweepers and mine layers. 

The government also seized 109 German ships which had been 
interned in American ports. The Germans had attempted to 
damage these ships so that they would be useless, but they were 
all repaired, and carried American troops and supplies in great 
quantities to France. 

As the fleet grew the training of the necessary officers and 
crews was conducted on a grand scale. Naval camps were estab- 
Hshed at various points. The main ones were those at Philadelphia, 
(League Island); Newport, Rhode Island; Cape May, New Jersey; 
Charleston, South Carohna; Pensacola, Florida; Key West, 
Florida; Mare Island, CaHfornia; Puget Sound, Washington; 
Hingham, Massachusetts; Norfolk, Virginia; New Orleans, San 
Diego, New York Navy Yard; Great Lakes, Illinois; Pelham, 
New York; Hampton Roads, Virginia; and Gulfport, Mississippi. 
Schools in gunnery and engineering were established and thousands 
of gunners and engineers were trained, not only for the Navy but 
for the armed merchant vessels. 



THE UNITED STATES NAVY IN THE WAR 487 

The training of gun crews by target practice was a feature of 
this work. Long before the war began systematic training of this 
kind had been done, but mainly in connection with the big guns, 
and great efficiency had been obtained by the steady practice. 
With the introduction of the submarine, it became necessary to 
pay special attention to the training of the crev/s of guns of smaller 
caliber, and it was not long before the officers of our Navy were 
congratulating themselves on the efficiency of their men. It is 
not easy to hit so small a mark as the periscope of a submarine, but 
it could be done and many times was done. 

Twenty-eight days after the declaration of war a fleet of 
United States destroyers under the command of Admiral William S. 
Sims reported for service at a British port. 

The American destroyer squadron arrived at Queenstown after 
a voyage without incident. The water front was lined with an 
excited crowd carrying small American flags, which cheered the 
destroyers from the time they were first seen until they reached the 
dock. They cheered again when Admiral Sims went ashore to 
greet the British senior officer who had come to welcome the 
Americans. It was a most informal function. After the usual 
handshakes the British conamander congratulated the Americans on 
their safe voyage and then asked: 

''When will you be ready for business?" 

''We can start at once," was the prompt reply of Admiral Sims. 

This rather took the breath away from the British commander 
and he said he had not expected the Americans to begin work so soon 
after their long voyage. Later after a short tour of the destroyers 
he admitted that the American tars looked prepared. 

"Yes," said the American commander, "we made preparations 
on the way over. That is why we are ready." 

Everything on board the destroyers was in excellent condition. 
The only thing lacking was heavier clothing. The American 
uniforms were too light for the cool weather which is common in the 
Enghsh waters. This condition, however, was quickly remedied, 
and the American ships at once put out to sea all in splendid con- 
dition and filled with the same enthusiasm that the Marines showed 
later at Chateau-Thierry. 

"They are certainly a fine body of men, and what's more, their 
craft looked just as fit," declared the British commander. 



488 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR 

One of the American destroyers, even before the American 
fleet had arrived at Queens^own, had begun war duty. It had 
picked up and escorted through the danger zone one of the 
largest of the Atlantic liners. The passengers on board the 
liner sent the commander of the destroyer the following message: 

British passengers on board a steamer, bound for a British port, 
under the protection of an American destroyer, send their hearty greetings 
to her commander and her officers and crew, and desire to express their 
keen appreciation of this practical co-operation between the government 
and people of the United States and the British Empire, who are now 
fighting together for the freedom of the seas. 

Moving pictures were taken by the official British Government 
photographer as the American flotilla came into the harbor, and 
sailors who received shore leave were plied with English hospitality. 
The streets of Queenstown were decorated with the Stars and Stripes. 
As soon as American residents in England learned that American 
warships were to cross the Atlantic they held a conference to provide 
recreation buildings, containing sleeping, eating, and recreation 
accommodations for the comfort of the American sailors. The 
destroyer flotilla was the first contribution of American military 
power to the Entente Alliance against Germany. 

Admiral Sims is one of the most energetic and efficient -of 
American naval officers and to him as much as to any other man 
is due the efficiency of the American Navy. During the period just 
before the Spanish-American War Lieutenant Sims was Naval 
Attache at Paris, and rendered invaluable services in buying ships 
and supplies for the Navy. In 1900 he was assigned to duty on the 
battleship Kentucky, then stationed in the Orient. In 1902 he 
was ordered to the Navy Department and placed in charge of the 
Office of Naval Practice, where he remained for seven years and 
devoted his attention to the improvement of the Navy in gunnery. 
During that time he made constant trips to England to consult 
with Engfish experts in gunnery and ordnance, and became inti- 
mately acquainted with Sir Percy Scott, who had been knighted 
and made Rear- Admiral for the improvements he had introduced in 
connection with the gunnery of the British warships. In 1909 
he was made commander of the battleship Minnesota, and in 1911 
was a member of the college staff at the Naval War College. In 
1913 he was made commander of the torpedo flotilla of the Atlantic 



THE UNITED STATES NAVY IN THE WAR 489 

fleet and in 1905 assigned to command the Dreadnaught Nevada. 
In 1916 he was President of the Naval War College. He was made 
Rear-Admiral m 1916 and Vice-Admiral in 1917 and assigned to the 
command of all American war vessels abroad. 

Immediately upon their arrival the American vessels began 
operation in the submarine zone. Admiral Beatty then addressed 
the following message to Admiral Henry T. Mayo of the United 
States Atlantic Fleet: 

The Grand Fleet rejoices that the Atlantic fleet will now share in 
preserving the liberties of the world and in maintaining the chivalry of 
the sea. 

Admiral Mayo replied: 

The United States Atlantic Fleet appreciates the message from the 
British fleet and welcomes opportunities for work with the British fleet for 
the freedom of the seas. 

It may also be noted, as a fact wl^ch is not without significance, 
that the losses by submarine which had reached their highest mark 
in the last week in April began from that time steadily to diminish. 

One of the main duties of the Navy was to convoy transports 
and supplies across the Atlantic. This was done with the assistance 
of Allied vessels with remarkable success. For a long period it 
seemed as if the U-boats would not be able to penetrate through 
the Alhed convoy, but during 1918 four transports were torpedoed. 
The first was the Tuscania which was sunk in February off the north 
coast of Ireland, with 1,912 officers and men of the Michigan and 
Wisconsin guardsmen, of whom 204 v/ere lost. The Oronsa, which 
v/as torpedoed in April, contained 250 men and all were saved except 
three of the crew. The Moldavia came next with five hundred 
troops, of whom fifty-five were lost. On September 6th the troopship 
Persic with 2,800 American soldiers was torpedoed but American 
destroyers rescued all on board, and the Persic, which was prevented 
from sinking by its water-tight bulkheads, was afterwards beached. 

Several American sliips, including the troop transport Mount 
Vernon, were torpedoed on return trips and a number of the men 
of their crews were lost, and several naval vessels were lost, including 
the destroyer Jacob Jones, and the patrol vessel Alcedo. The 
Cassin was torpedoed, but reached port under its own steam and 
later returned to service. 



490 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR 

In September and October three more American transports 
were added to the Hst of American losses. On September 26th 
the United States steamer Tampa was torpedoed and sank with all 
on board, losing 118 men. On September 30th the Ticonderoga 
was also torpedoed, eleven naval officers and 102 enhsted men being 
lost. 

In addition to these submarine losses several ships and a 
number of men were lost through colUsion. The United States 
steamer Westgate was sunk in a collision with the steamer American 
on October 7th, with the loss of seven men. On October 9th the 
United States destroyer Shaw lost fifteen men in a collision, though 
she later succeeded in reaching port. On October 11 th the American 
steamer Otranto was sunk in a colhsion with the British liner 
Cashmere. Of seven hundred American soldiers who were on 
board 365 were lost. At this time about three thousand anti- 
submarine craft were in operation day and night around the British 
Isles, and about five thousand working in the open sea. This was 
what made it possible for the AlUes to win the war. 

Inasmuch as the illegal use of the submarine by Germany 
brought America into the war it was extremely appropriate that she 
should take an active part in the suppression of the submarine 
menace. The methods which were used in fighting the submarines 
differed much in different cases. The action of the government in 
arming merchantment and in providing them with trained gun 
crews did much to lower the number of such ships sunk by the 
U-boats. 

The submarine, which had formerly been able to stop the 
unarmed merchantman and sink him at leisure, after a few com- 
bats with an armed merchantman began to be very wary and to 
depend almost entirely upon his torpedoes. It was not always 
easy for the submarine to get in a position where her torpedo 
would be effective, and the merchantman was carefully directed, 
if attacked, to pursue a ziz-zag irregular course, and at the same 
time endeavor to hamper the submarine by shooting as near her 
periscope as possible. 

Along the sea coasts and at certain points in the English 
Channel great nets were used effectively. Submarines, however, 
toward the end of the war were made sufficiently large to be able to 
force their way through these nets, and net-cutting devices were 



THE UNITED STATES NAVY IN THE WAR 491 

also used by them with considerable effect. The best way to destroy 
the submarines seemed to be in a direct attack by flotillas of 
destroyers. 

By the end of the war the whole process of sinking or destroy- 
mg submarines had been thoroughly organized. Practically every 
portion of the seas near Great Britain and France was carefully 
watched and the appearance of a submarine immediately reported. 
As the submarine would only travel at a certain well-understood 
speed during a given time, it was possible to calculate, after the 
locahty of one was known, about how far from that point it would 
be found at any later period. Destroyers were therefore sent 
circling around the point where the submarine had been discovered, 
enlarging their distance from the center every hour. In the course 
of time the submarine would be compelled to come''up for air, and 
then, if luck were with the destroyer, it might find its foe before 
it was seen itseK. Having discovered the submarine the destroyer 
immediately endeavored to ram, dropping depth bombs at the 
point where they supposed the enemy to be. 

These bombs were so constructed that at a certain depth in the 
water they would explode, and the force of the explosion was so 
great that even if they did not strike the submarine they would be 
sure to damage it seriously, sometimes throwing the submarine to 
the surface partly out of water, and at other times driving her to 
come to the surface herself ready to surrender. 

In many cases it was not necessary to use the depth bomb at 
all. The gunners on board the destroyers had become extraordi- 
narily expert, and though a shot might destroy the periscope of a 
submarine without doing much damage, most submarines carrying 
extra periscopes to use if necessary, yet it was soon found that it 
was possible by the use of plunging shells to do effective damage. 
Plunging shells are somewhat similar in their operation to bombs. 
Such a shell falling just short of a periscope and fused to burst 
both on contact and at a certain depth was extremely likely to 
do damage. 

In the pursuit of the U-boat the airplane was also extremely 
effective. These were sent out to patrol large districts near the 
Allied coast, and also, in some cases, from ships themselves. It is 
possible in certain weather conditions for the observer on an air- 
plane to detect a submarine even when it is submerged and the 



492 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR 

airplane can not only attack the submarine by dropping depth 
bombs, but it can signal at once the location of the enemy to the 
hurrying destroyers. Indeed, as the submarine warfare proceeded 
the main difl&culty of the Allies was to locate the submarines. 
Many ingenious devices were used for this piu-pose, and many of the 
English vessels had listening attachments under water which were 
intended to make it possible to hear a submarine as it moved. 
These, however, do not seem to have been very effective. The 
submarine itself seems at times to have been fitted out in a similar 
way and to have thus been able to hear the sound of an approach- 
ing ship. 

Many thrilling reports of naval actions against German sub- 
marines were given out officially by the British admiralty from 
time to time. In most of these cases the submarine was both 
rammed and attacked by depth bombs. In nearly all of them the 
only proof of success was the oil and air bubbles which came to the 
surface. 

One interesting encounter was that in which a British submarine 
sighted a German U-boat, while both were on the surface. The 
British submarine dived and later was able to pick up the enemy 
through the periscope and discharge a torpedo in such a way 
as to destroy the German vessel. ?Vhen the British submarine 
arose it found a patch of oil in which Germans were swimming. 

Ordinarily, however, a submarine was of little service in a 
fight against another for the radius of sight from a periscope is so 
short that it is practically blind so far as another periscope is con- 
cerned. This blindness of the submarine was taken advantage of 
by the Allies in every possible way. 

Merchant ships were camouflaged, that is painted in such a 
way that they could not be easily distinguished at a distance. 
In the great convoys ships were often hidden by great masses of 
smoke to prevent a submarine from finding an easy mark. At 
night all lights were put out or else so shaded as not to be seen by 
the enemy. The result of these methods was the gradual destruc- 
tion of the U-boat menace. 

In the summer of 1918, while occasionally some ship was lost, 
the production of new ships was much greater than those that were 
sunk. During the month of June it was announced that the 
completion of new tonnage by the Allies had outstripped the losses 



THE UNITED STATES NAVY IN THE YVAll 495 

by thousands of tons. During this period the United States had 
attained its full stride in building ships, airplanes and ordnance. 

Archibald Kurd, the English naval expert, said: "When the 
war is over the nation will form some conception of the debt which 
we owe the American Navy for the manner in which it has co-oper- 
ated, not only in connection with the convoy system, but in 
fighting the submarines. If the naval position is improving today, 
as it is, it is due to the fact that the British and American fleets are 
working in closest accord, supported by an immense body of skilled 
workers on both sides of the Atlantic, who are turning out destroyers 
and other craft for dealing with the submarine, as well as mmes and 
bombs. Some of the finest battleships of the United States Navy 
are now associated with the British Grand fleet. They are not 
only splendid fighting ships but they are well officered and manned." 

On May 13, 1918, in appreciation of some' remarks which had 
been made by Sir Eric Geddes, First Lord of the British Admiralty, 
Josephus Daniels, the American Secretary of the Navy, addressed a 
letter to him in the following terms: 

"Your reference to the splendid spirit of co-operation between 
the navies of our countries, and your warm praise of the officers 
and men of our navy, have been most grateful to me and to all 
Americans. The brightest spot in the tragedy of this war is this 
mutual appreciation of the men in the naval service. Our officers 
who have returned confirm the statements of Admiral Sims of the 
courtesies and kindness shown in every way by the admiralty and 
the officers of the British fleet. I had hoped to have the pleasure of 
visiting Great Britain and of personally expressing this feeling of 
mutual working together, but the task here of making ready more 
and more units for the fleet is a very serious one, and my duty 
chains me here. The order in all the Navy is 'Full speed ahead' 
in the construction of destroyers and other craft, and the whole 
service is keyed up to press this program forward. Therefore I 
shall not have the pleasure, until this program shall materialize, 
of a personal acquaintance and a conference which would be of 
such interest and value." 

Sir Eric Geddes replied: "I am exceedingly grateful for your 
letter. As you know we, all of us here, have great admiration for 
your officers and men, and for the splendid help they are giving in 
European waters. Further ^ we find Admiral Sims invaluable in 



496 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR 

council and in co-operation. I fully appreciate how onerous your 
office must be and much though I regret that you do not see your 
way to visiting this country in the near future, I hope we may some 
day have the pleasure of welcoming you here." 

Sir Eric afterward himself visited the United States and his 
visit was made the occasion of a general expression of the high 
regard which the United States felt for the splendid assistance which 
the great British Navy had rendered in convoying its armies across 
the eas. 

Secretary Daniels, in his report of December, 1918, said that 
American sea forces in European waters comprised 338 vessels, 
with 75,000 men and officers — a, force larger than the entire Navy 
was before the war began. 

From August, 1914, to September, 1918, German submarines 
sank 7,157,088 deadweight tons of shipping in excess of the tonnage 
turned out in that period by the alUed and neutral nations. That 
total does not represent the depletion of the fleets at the command 
of the alUed and neutral nations, however, as 3,795,000 deadweight 
tons of enemy ships were seized in the meantime. Actually, the 
allied and neutral nations on September 1, 1918, had only 3,362,088 
less tons of shipping in operation than in August, 1914. 

These details of the shipping situation were issued by the 
United States Shipping Board along with figures to show that, with 
American and alHed yards under full headway, Europe's danger of 
being starved by the German submarine was apparently at an end. 
The United States took the lead of all nations in shipbuilding. 

In all, the allied and neutral nations lost 21,404,913 dead- 
weight tons of shipping since the beginning of the war, showing 
that Germany maintained an average destruction of about 445,000 
deadweight tons monthly. During the latter months, however, 
the sinkings fell considerably below the average, and aUied con- 
struction passed destruction for the first time in May, 1918. 

The losses of the allied and neutral shipping in August, 1918, 
amounted to 327,676 gross tonnage, of which 176,401 was British 
and 151,275 allied and neutral, as compared with the adjusted 
figures for July of 323,772, and 182,524 and 141,248, respectively. 
British losses from all causes during August were 10,887 tons 
higher than in June, which was the lowest month since the intro- 
duction of unrestricted submarine warfare. 



THE UNITED STATES NAVY IN THE WAR 497 

An official statement of the United States Shipping Board, 
issued September 21, 1918, set forth the following facts: 

STATUS OF WORLD TONNAGE, SEPTEMBER 1, 1918 
(Germany and Austria excluded) 

Deadweight 
Tons 

Total losses (allied and neutral) August, 1914-September 1, 1918 21,404,913 

Total construction (allied and neutral) August, 1914-September 1, 1918 . . . 14,247,825 

Total enemy tonnage captured (to end of 1917) 3,795,000 

Excess of losses over gains 3,362,088 

Estimated normal increase in world's tonnage if war had not occurred (based 

on rate of increase, 1905-1914) 14,700,000 

Net deficit due to war 18,062,088 

In August, deliveries to the Shipping Board and other seagoing construction in the 
United States for private parties passed allied and neutral destruction for that month. 
The figures: 

Gross 
(Actual) Tone 

DeUveries to the Shipping Board 244,121 

Other construction over 1,000 gross 16,918 

Total -. 261,039 

Losses (aUied and neutral) 259,400 

America alone surpassed losses for month by 1,630 

Note. — World's merchant tonnage, as of June 30, 1914, totaled 49,089,552 gross 
tons, or, roughly, 73,634,328 deadweight tons. (Lloyd's Register.) 

The climax to Germany's piratical submarine adventure took 
place a few days after the armistice, when a mournful procession of 
shamefaced-looking U-boats sailed between lines of English cruisers 
to be handed over to the tender mercies of the AUied governments. 




CHAPTER XXXVI 

China Joins the Fighting Democracies 

^HE circumstances connected with the entrance of the 
RepubHc of China into the World War were as follows: 
On February 4, 1917, the American Minister, Dr. Reinsch, 
requested the Chinese Government to follow the United 
States in protesting against the German use of the submarine against 
neutral ships. On February 9th Pekin made such a protest to 
Germany, and declared its intention of severing diplomatic relations 
if the protest were ineffectual. The immediate answer of Germany 
was to torpedo the French ship Atlas in the Mediterranean on which 
were over seven hundred Chinese laborers. On March 10th the 
Chinese ParHament empowered the government to break with 
Germany. On the same afternoon a reply was received from the 
German Government to the Chinese protest, of a very mild char- 
acter. The reply produced a great deal of surprise in China. 

A Chinese statesman m-ade tliis coroment on the German 
change of attitude: ''The troops under Count Waldersee leaving 
Germany for the rehef of Pekin were instructed by the War Lord 
to grant no quarter to the Chinese. On the other hand, the latter 
were to be so disciplined that they would never dare look a German 
in the face again. The whirligig of time brings its own revenge, and 
today, after the lapse of scarcely seventeen years, we hear the 
Vossiche Zeitung commenting on the diplomatic rupture between 
China and Germany, lamenting that even so weak a state as the 
Far Eastern RepubUc dares look defiantly at the German nation." 

The breaking off of relations with Germany led to trouble 
between the President of the Repubhc and the Premier. The 
Premier desired to break off relations without consulting Parliament. 
The President insisted that Parliament should be consulted, which 
was actually done. The next move was to declare war, but here 
the Chinese statesmen hesitated, and their hesitation arose through 
their feeling toward Japan. 

They sympathized with the AlUes, but to Chinese eyes Japan 

498 



CHINA JOINS THE DEMOCRACIES 499 

has stood for all that Germany; as depicted by its worst enemies, 
stood for. The Japanese Government was professing friendliness 
to China, but that profession the Chinese could not reconcile with 
Japan's action in the Chino-Japanese V/ar, and on many other 
occasions since that war. In Chinese hearts there was a strong 
feeHng of distrust, fear and hatred for their Japanese neighbor. 
There were other reasons also why they hesitated to declare war. 
Indeed the devotion to peace, which is deep-rooted in the nation, 
would be a sufficient reason in itseK. 

Moreover, China, hke other neutral nations, was a strong 
center for German propaganda. German consuls and diplomatic 
officers, who were scholars in Chinese hterature and philosophy, 
and who also had sufficient funds to entertain Chinese officials as 
they liked to be entertained, were actively endeavoring to influence 
Chinese statesmen. 

The Chinese Government, however, was determined to declare 
war, and to secure support the Chinese Premier summoned a 
council of mihtary governors to consider the question. The majority 
of the conference agreed with the Premier, but a vigorous opposition 
began to develop. On May 7th the President sent a formal 
request to Parliament to approve of a declaration of war. Parha- 
ment delayed and was thi-eatened by a mob. The Premier was 
accused of having instigated the riot and support began to gather 
for ParHament, and an attack was made on the Premier as being 
willing to sell China. 

Day by day the differences between the mihtants and demo- 
crats became more bitter. The question of war was almost lost in 
the differences of opinion as to the comparative powers of Parliament 
and the Executive. A demand was made that the Premier resign. 
He refused to resign and was dismissed from office by the President, 
who was supported in his action by the ParHament. This was 
practically a success of the ParUamentary party, when suddenly 
several of the northern generals and governors declared their 
independence, and the movement gradually developed into a 
revolution in favor of the restoration of the Manchu Dynasty. 
This revolution was finally suppressed. 

The Japanese declared themselves, not the enemies, but the 
protectors of China in terms that suggested the appearance of a 
Monroe Doctrine for Asia. They pledged themselves not to violate 



500 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR 

the political independence or territorial integrity of China, and 
declared strongly in favor of the principle of the open door and 
equal opportunity. 

On August 14th China formally joined the AUies and declared 
war on Austria and Germany. She took no great part in the war, 
except to invade the German and Austrian settlements in Tientsin 
and Hankow, which were taken over by the Chinese authorities. 
The Chinese officials also seized the Deutsche Asiatiche Bank which 
had been the financing agent in China for the German Government, 
and fourteen German vessels which had been interned in Chinese 
ports. Thousands of Chinese cooHes were sent to Europe to work 
in the AlHed interests behind the battle fines, and China has in all 
respects been faithful to her pledges. 

The ofiicial war proclamation of China which was signed by 
President Feng-kuo-chang reviewed China's efforts to induce 
Germany to modify her submarine poHcy. It declared that China 
had been forced to sever relations with Germany and with Austro- 
Hungary to protect the lives and property of Chinese citizens. 
It promised that China would respect the Hague Convention, 
regarding the humane conduct of the war, and asserted that 
China's object was to hasten peace. 

On July 22d Siam officially entered the war and aU German 
and Austrian subjects were interned and German ships seized. The 
Prince of Songkla, brother of the reigning monarch, declared that 
natural necessity and moral pressure forced Siam into the war on 
the side of the Entente. Neutrafity had become increasingly diffi- 
cult, and it had become apparent that freedom and justice in states 
which were not strong from a military standpoint were not to be 
secured through the poficy of the Central Powers. Sympathy for 
Belgium and the popular aversion to Teutonic methods had left 
no doubt as to the duty of Siam. The motive of Siam had a curious 
fitness, though there was a certain quaintness in her expression of a 
desire to make, "the world safe for democracy." 

The native name of Siam is Muang-Thai, which means the 
Kingdom of the Free. Siam is about as large as France, and has a 
population of about eight milKons. Its people, who are of many 
shades of yellowish-brown, have descended into this corner of Asia 
from the highlands north of Burma and east of Tibet. The tradition 
among these people was that the further south they descended the 



CHINA JOINS THE DEMOCRACIES 501 

shorter they would grow, that when they reached the southern 
plains they would be no larger than rabbits, and that when they 
came to the sea they would vanish altogether. As a fact the 
northern tribes are much taller than the southern. 

The original population of the Siamese peninsula was a race 
of black dw^arfs, remnants of whom still dwell in caves and nests of 
palm leaves, so shy that it is almost impossible to catch a glimpse of 
them. The Hterary and rehgious culture of Siam comes mainly 
from southern India. Buddhism is the dominant religion, but 
there are many Mohammedans also. 

The accession of Siam to the ranks of the Allies did not make 
any great difference from a military point of view, but it was another 
evidence of the general world feeling with regard to the Germans and 
their encroachments in all parts of the world. Germany had tried 
its best to keep these nations from participation in the war, but 
not only had her propaganda failed but the feeling of these Oriental 
peoples was strongly anti-German. Much of this feeling, it is 
readily seen from their statements and their private letters, comes 
from a personal resentment of the boorish attitude of the individual 
German. By the end of 1918 the Teuton influence in the Orient 
had completely disappeared. 




CHAPTER XXXVII 

The Defeat and Recovery of Italy 

ONE of the surprises of the World War brought such 
sudden and stunning dismay to the Entente Allies as 
the news of the Italian disaster beginning October 24, 
1917, and terminating in mid-November. It is a story 
in which propaganda was an important factor. It taught the 
Allies the dangers lying in fraternization between opposing armies. 

Durmg the summer of 1917 the second ItaHan army was 
confronted by Austrian regiments composed lai'gely of war-weary 
Socialists. During that summer skilful German propagandists 
operating from Spain had sown the seeds of pacificism thi'oughout 
Italy. This was made easy by the distress then existing particu- 
larly in the villages where food was scanty and complaints against 
the conduct of the v/ar were numerous. The propaganda extended 
from the civiUan population to the army, and its channel was 
directed mainly toward the second army encamped along the 
Isonzo River. 

As a consequence of the pacifists' preachments both by word 
of mouth and document, the second army was ready for the 
friendly approaches that came from the front fines of the Austrians 
only a few hundred yards away. Daily communication was estab- 
lished and at night the opposing soldiers fraternized generally. 
The Russian doctrine that an end of the fighting would come if 
the soldiers agreed to do no more shooting, spread throughout the 
Itafian trenches. 

This was all part of a plan carefully mapped out by the Ger- 
man High Command. When the infection had spread, the fra- 
ternizing Austrian troops were withdrawn from the front trenches 
and German shock troops took their places. 

On October 24th these troops attacked in force. The Itafians 
in the front fine, mistaking them for the friendly Austrians, waved 
a greeting. German machine guns and rifles replied with a deadly 
fire, and the great flanking movement commenced. So well had 

502 



THE DEFEAT AND RECOVERY OF ITALY 503 

the Germans played their game the Italians lost more than 
250,000 prisoners and 2,300 guns in the first week. The attack 
began in the JuUan Alps and continued along the Isonzo south- 
westward into the plain of Venice. The ItaHan positions at Tol- 
mino and Plezzo were captured and the whole Italian force was 
compelled to retreat along a seventy-mile front from the Carnic 
Alps to the sea. The most important point gained by the enemy 
in its early assault was the village of Caporetto on the Upper 




Area of thb Flow and Ebb op Italy's Military Success 
From the Carso plateau to the Piave line. 



Isonzo where General Cadoma held a great series of dams which 
could have drained the Isonzo River dry within twelve hours. 

The ItaHan retreat at places degenerated into a rout and it 
was not until the Italians, reinforced by French and British,, 
reached the Piave River, that a stand was finally made. The 
defeat cost Cadoma his command, and he was succeeded by General 
Armando Diaz, whose brilliant strategy during the remainder of 
the war marked him as a national hero and one of the outstanding 
military geniuses of the war. 

The order for a general retreat was issued on October 27th. 



504 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR 

Poison gas shells rained blindness and death upon the retreating 
ItaHans and upon the heroic rear-guards. The city of Udine and 
its environs were emptied of their inhabitants; and Goritzia, which 
had been wrested after a desperate effort from the Austrians, was 
retaken on October 28th. 

That the entire ItaUan army escaped the fate that had come 
to the Russians at the Masurian Lakes was due mainly to the third 
army commanded by the Duke of Aosta. During the long running 
fight, it faced about from time to time and drove the Germans back 
in bloody encounters. 

By November 10th the Itahan forces had come to the hastily 
prepared entrenchments on the west bank of the Piave River. 
The Austrians and the Germans dug in on the east bank from 
the village of Susegana hi the Alpine foothills to the Adriatic Sea. 

Here a long-drawn-out battle was fought, resulting in enormous 
losses to the Germans and Austrians. By tliis time reinforcements 
had come up from the French front and every attempt by the 
enemy to gain ground met a bloody check. The hardest fighting 
was on the Asiago Plateau. There, although the Itahans were 
greatly outnumbered, the concentration of their artillery in the 
hills overlooking the great field completely dominated the situation. 

A factor that was of the utmost value in checking the Aus- 
trians was the system of lagoon defenses running from the lower 
Piave to the Gulf of Venice. 

From November 13th, when the Austrians in crossing the 
lower Piave in their headlong rush to Venice were suddenly 
checked by the Italian lagoon defenses, the entire Gulf of Venice, 
mth its endless canals and marshes, with islands disappearing and 
reappearing with the tide, was the scene of a continuous battle. 
A correspondent described the fighting as absolutely without pre- 
cedent. The Teutons were desperately trying to turn the Italian 
right wing by working their way around the northern Hmits of 
the Venetian Gulf. The Itahans inundated the region and sealed 
all the entrances into the gulf by mine fields. The gulf, therefore, 
was converted into an isolated sea. Over this inland waterway 
the conflict raged bitterly. The Italians had a ''lagoon fleet" 
ranging from the swiftest of motor boats, armed with machine 
guns, small cannon, and torpedo tubes, to huge, cumbersome, 
flat-bottomed British monitors, mounting the biggest guns. 



THE DEFEAT AND RECOVERY OF ITALY 505 

The Italian vessels navigated secret channels dug in the bottom 
of the shallow lagoons. Only the Italian war pilots knew these 
courses. Even gondolas straying out of the channels were instantly 
and hopelessly stranded. Not only this, but as the muddy flats 
and marshy islands did not permit of artillery emplacements the 
Italians developed an immense fleet of floating batteries. The 
guns ranged from three-inch fieldpieces to great fifteen-inch mon- 
sters. Each was camouflaged to represent a tiny island, a garden 
patch, or a houseboat. Floating on the glassHke surface of the 
lagoons, the guns fiired a few shots and then changed position, mak- 
ing it utterly impossible for the enemy to locate them. The entire 
auxihary service of supplying this floating army was adapted to 
meet the lagoon warfare. Munition dumps were on boats, con- 
stantly moved about to prevent the enemy spotting them. Gon- 
dolas and motor boats replaced the automobile supply lorries 
customary in land warfare. Instead of motor ambulances, motor 
boats carried off the dead and wounded. Hydro-airplanes replaced 
ordinary fighting aircraft. 

Along the northern limit of the Venetian Gulf, where the 
Austrians, having filtered into the Piave Delta, sought to cross 
both the Sile and the Piave, the enemy each night hooked up 
pontoons. At daybreak every morning one end of a hugh pon- 
toon structure was anchored to the east bank of the Piave and the 
other flung out to the strong current, which soon stretched the 
makeshift bridge across. 

The moment this happened, the enemy infantry madly dashed 
across. Simultaneously the ItaHan floating batteries opened a 
terrific fire. Practically every morning the Austrians tried the 
trick, and every morning they failed, with heavy losses, to effect a 
crossing. At last they gave up the attempt as hopeless, and the 
armies remained locked on the Piave for several months. 




CHAPTER XXXVIII 

Redemption of the Holy Land 

I ROM the beginning of the war the German General Staff 
and the British War Office planned the occupation of 
Palestine and Macedonia. Germany wanted domination 
of that territory because through it lay the open road to 
Egypt and British prestige in the East. Turkey was the cat's paw 
of the Hun in this enterprise. German officers and German guns 
were supplied to the Turks, but the terrible privations necessary 
in a long campaign that must be spent largely in the desert, and 
the inevitable great loss in human life, were both demanded from 
Turkey. 

Great Britain made no such demands upon any of its Allies. 
Unflinchingly England faced virtually alone the rigors, the disease 
and the deaths consequent upon an expedition having as its object 
the redemption of the Holy Land from the unspeakable Turk. 

Volunteers for the expedition came by the thousands. 
Canada, the United States, Australia and other countries furnished 
whole regiments of Jewish youths eager for the campaign. The 
inspiration and the devotion radiating from Palestine, and particu- 
larly from Jerusalem and Bethlehem, drew Jew and Gentile, hardy 
adventurer and zealous churchman, into AUenby's great army. 

It was a long campaign. On February 26, 1917, Kut-el- 
Amara was recaptured from the Turks by the British expedition 
under command of General Sir Stanley Maude, and on March 11th 
following General Maude captured Bagdad. From that time 
forward pressure upon the Turks was continuous. On September 
29, 1917, the Turkish Mesopotamian army commanded by Ahmad 
Bey was routed by the British, and historic Beersheba in Palestine 
was occupied on October 31st. The untimely death of General 
Maude, the hero of Mesopotamia, on November 18, 1917, tem- 
porarily cast gloom over the Allied forces but it had no deterrent 
effect upon their successful operations. Siege was laid to Jerusalem 
and its environs late in November, and on December 8, 1917, the 

506 



REDEMPTION OF THE HOLY LAND 



507 



Holy City which had been held by the Turks for six hundred and 
seventy-three years surrendered to General AUenby and his British 
army. Thus ended a struggle for possession of the hohest of 
shrines both of the Old and New Testaments, that had cost mil- 




I II II I III^BI ■IIIIH^II nil 

How THE Two Wings of the British Army Trapped the Turks. 

Hons of lives during fruitless crusades and had been the center of 
religious aspirations for ages. 

General Allenby's official report follows: 

"I entered the city officially at noon December 11th with a 



508 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR 

few of my staff, the commanders of the French and ItaUan detach- 
ments, the heads of the pohtical missions, and the military attaches 
of France, England, and America. 

''The procession was all afoot, and at Jaffa gate I was received 
by the guards representing England, Scotland, Ireland, Wales, 
Austraha, New Zealand, India, France and Italy. The population 
received me well. 

*' Guards have been placed over the holy places. My miHtary 
governor is in contact with the acting custodians and the Latin 
and Greek representatives. The governor has detailed an officer 
to supervise the holy places. The Mosque of Omar and the area 
around it have been placed under Moslem control, and a miUtary 
cordon of Mohammedan officers and soldiers has been established 
around the mosque. Orders have been issued that no non-Moslem 
is to pass within the cordon without permission of the military 
governor and the Moslem in charge." 

A proclamation in Arabic, Hebrew, English, French, Italian 
Greek and Russian was posted in the citadel, and on all the walls 
proclaiming martial law and intimating that all the holy places 
would be maintained and protected according to the customs and 
beliefs of those to whose faith they were sacred. The proclamation 
read: 

PROCLAMATION 

To the Inhabitants of Jerusalem the Blessed and the People Dwelling 
ia Its Viciaity. 

The defeat inflicted upon the Turks by the troops under my command 
has resulted in the occupation of your city by my forces. I, therefore, 
proclaim it to be under martial law, under which form of adminis- 
tration it will remain so long as miHtary consideration makes necessary. 

However, lest any of you be alarmed by reason of your experience 
at the hands of the enemy who has retired, I hereby inform 3^ou that it is 
my desire that every person should pursue his lawful business without 
fear of interruption. 

Futhermore, since your city is regarded with affection by the 
adherents of three of the great religions of mankind and its soil has been 
consecrated by the prayers and pilgrimages of multitudes of devout people 
of these three religions for many centuries, therefore, do I make it known 
to you that every sacred building, monument, holy spot, shrine, traditional 
site, endowment, pious bequest, or customary place of prayer of whatso- 
ever form of the three religions will be maintained and protected according 
to the existing customs and beliefs of those to whose faith they are sacred. 



REDEMPTIONi OF THE HOLY LAND 509 

Guardians have been established at Bethlehem and on Rachel's 
Tomb. The tomb at Hebron has been placed under exclusive Moslem 
control. 

The hereditary custodians at the gates of the Holy Sepulchre have 
been requested to take up their accustomed duties in remembrance of the 
magnanimous act of the Caliph Omar, who protected that church. 

Jerusalem was now made the center of the British operations 
against the Turks in Palestine. Mohammed V, the Sultan of 
Turkey, died July 3, 1918, and many superstitious Turks looked 
upon that event as forecasting the end of the Turkish Empire. 
The Turkish army in Palestine was left largely to its fate by Ger- 
many and Austria, and although it was numerically a formidable 
opponent for General AUenby's forces, that distinguished strategist 
fairly outmaneuvered the Turkish High Conmiand in every 
encounter. The beginning of the end for Turkish misrule in 
Palestine came on September 20th when the ancient town of 
Nazareth was captured by the British. 

A military net was thereupon closed upon the Turkish army. 
The fortified towns of Beisan and Afule followed the fate of 
Nazareth. In one day's fighting 18,000 Turkish prisoners, 120 guns, 
four airplanes, a number of locomotives and cars, and a great quan- 
tity of military and food supplies were bagged by the victorious 
British. So well did AUenby plan that the British losses were far 
the smallest suffered in any large operation of the entire war. It 
was the swiftest and most decisive victory of any scored by the 
AlUes. It ended the grandiose dream of Germany for an invasion 
of Egypt in stark disaster, and swept the Holy Land clear of 
the Turks. 

This great battle on the Biblical field of Armageddon was 
remarkable in that it was virtually the only engagement during 
the entire war offering the freest scope to cavahy operations. 
British cavahy commands operated over a radius of sixty miles 
between the Jordan and the Mediterranean, sweeping the Turks 
before them. 

By September 25th the total bag of Turkish prisoners exceeded 
40,000. Munition depots covering acres of ground were taken. 
Whole companies of Turkish soldiers were found sitting on their 
white flags waiting for the British to accept their terms. Two 
hundred sixty-five pieces of artillerj'' were captured. 



510 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR 

Damascus was captured on Tuesday, October 1st, after an 
advance of 130 miles by General AUenby since September 1st, 
the day of his surprise attack north of Jerusalem. During that 
period a total of 73,000 prisoners was captured. 

Palestine's dehvery from the Turks was complete. Official 
announcement was made by the British War Office that the total 
casualties from all sources in this final campaign was less than 
4,000. 

Plans for the government of the people of Palestine were 
announced immediately. Their general scope was outHned in an 
agreement made between the British, French and Russian govern- 
ments in 1916. Under that arrangement Republican France was 
charged with the preparation of a scheme of self-government. 
The town of Alexandretta was fixed upon as a free port of entry for 
the new nation. 




© Underwood and Underwood, N, Y. British Official Photo. 

JERUSALEM DELIVERED. 
On December 11, 1917, the Holy City was entered by the British forces. Following 
the custom of the Crusaders, General Allenby, commander of the British and Allied 
forces, made his entry, with his staff and Allied officers, through the Jaffa Gate, on 
foot. 




o ^ 



°S 
P <o 

O bC 
o ■■-■ 



03 .3 






Q 

o 

< 

a 



> 
X a) 

«3 

-*^ 03 
^-!' **■ 

a I 
-^ & 

-^ o 

go 

CO _t 

go 

tc.2 , 
.2 & 
CQ 

O . 

as 



■-B.a 




CHAPTER XXXIX 

America's Transportation Problems 

t 

HEN America entered the war there was a very great 
increase in the volume of business of the railroads of 
the country. The roads were already so crowded 
by what the Allies had done in purchasing war supplies, 
that a great deal of confusion had resulted. The Allies had expended 
more than three bilHon dollars in the United States, and as nearly 
all of their purchases had to be sent to a few definite points for 
shipment to Europe, the congestion at those points had become a 
serious difficulty. Thousands of loaded cars had to stand for 
long periods awaiting the transfer of their contents to ships. This 
meant that thousands of cars which had been taken from lines in 
other parts of the country v/ould be in a traffic blockade for weeks 
at a time. The main difficulty appeared to be that of getting 
trains unloaded promptly. 

The declaration of war by the United States made the situation 
very much worse. Not only did the railroads have to handle the 
freight destined for the Allies, but there was a very large addition 
to the passenger movement on account of the thousands of men 
that were being sent to the various training camps, and the immense 
masses of supplies that had to be sent to these camps. This 
included not only the ordinary supplies to the men but thousands 
of carloads of lumber. Moreover, all over the country mills and 
factories were now being handed over to the government for war 
work; and to them, too, great quantities of raw material had to be 
sent, and the finished product removed to its destination. 

A vigorous endeavor to meet the new difficulties was instituted 
by the railroads themselves. They themselves named a war 
board, which was to co-operate with the government and which 
was to have absolute authority. But this arrangement soon proved 
unsatisfactory. Each government official would do his best to 
obtain preference for what his department required, and to obtain 
that preference a system of priority tags was established which 

513 



514 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR 

became a great abuse. The result was that priority freight soon 
began to crowd out the freight which the raih-oads could handle 
according to their own discretion, thus seriously interfering with 
business all over the country. 

Naturally, the railroad executives and the government author- 
ities studied the question with the greatest care, but they could 
not reach an understanding among themselves, nor with the 
Administration. At last the President settled the matter by 
announcing his decision to have the government take over com- 
plete control of the roads. The President derived his power 
from an Act of Congress dated August 29, 1916, which reads as 
follows : 

The President in time of war is empowered, through the Secretary 
of War, to take possession and assmne control of any system or systems 
of transportation, or any part thereof, and to utilize the same to the 
exclusion, as far as may be necessary, of all other traffic thereon, for the 
transfer or transportation of troops, war material and equipment, or for 
such other purposes connected with the emergency as may be needful or 
desirable. 

The proclamation went into effect on December 28, 1917, and 
the President declared that it apphed to ''each and every system 
of transportation and the appurtenances thereof, located, wholly 
or in part, within the boundaries of the Continental United States, 
and consisting of railroads and owned or controlled systems of 
coastwise and inland transportation, engaged in general trans- 
portation, whether operated by steam, or by electric power, includ- 
ing also terminals, terminal companies, and terminal associations, 
sleeping and parlor cars, private cars, and private car lines, elevators, 
warehouses, telegraph and telephone lines, and all other equipment 
and appurtenances commonly used upon or operated as a part of 
such rail or combined rail and water systems of transportation. . . . 
That the possession, control, operation, and utiUzation of such 
transportation systems shall be exercised by and through WilUam G. 
McAdoo, who is hereby appointed, and designated Director General 
of Railroads. Said Director may perform the duties imposed upon 
him so long and to such an extent as he shall determine through the 
boards of directors, receivers, officers and employees, of said 
system of transportation." President Wilson issued an explanation 
with this proclamation in which he said : 



TRANSPORTATION PROBLEMS 515 

This is a war of resources no less than of men, perhaps even more 
than of men, and it is necessary for the complete mobilization of our 
resources that the transportation systems of the country should be organ- 
ized and employed under a single authority and to simphfy methods 
for coordination which have not proved possible under private manage- 
ment and control. A committee of railway executives who have been 
co-operating with the government in this all-important matter, have 
done the utmost that it was possible for them to do, but there were differ- 
ences that they could neither escape nor neutralize. Complete unity of 
administration in the present circumstances involves upon occasion, and 
at many points, a serious dislocation of earnings, and the committee was, 
of course, without power or authority to rearrange charges or effect proper 
compensations in adjustments of earnings. Several roads which were 
willingly and with admirable pubHc spirit accepting the orders of the 
committee, have already suffered from these circumstances, and should 
not be required to suffer further. In mere fairness to them, the full 
authority of the govermnent must be substituted. The public interest 
must be first served, and in addition the financial interests of the govern- 
ment, and the financial interests of the railways, must be brought under a 
common direction. The financial operations of the railway need not, 
then, interfere with the borrowings of the government, and they them- 
selves can be conducted at a great advantage. Investors in railway 
securities may rest assured that their rights and interests will be as 
scrupulously looked after by the government as they could be by the 
directors of the several railway systems. Immediately upon the reassem- 
bling of Congress I shall recommend that these different guarantees be 
given. The Secretary of War and I are agreed that, all the circumstances 
being taken into consideration, the best results can be obtained under 
the immediate executive direction of the Honorable William G. McAdoo, 
whose practical experience peculiarly fits him for the service, and whose 
authority as Secretary of the Treasury will enable him to coordinate, as 
no other man could, the many financial interests which will be involved, 
and which might, unless systematically directed, suffer very embarrassing 
entanglements. 

President Wilson's proclamation stirred up great excitement 
on the stock market. Speculators rushed to buy back railroad 
stocks which they had previously sold short, and the market value 
of such stocks was raised more than three hundred and fifty million 
dollars as a result. The Federal Government's assumption of 
control of the railroads was generally recognized as the proper act 
under existing circumstances, and the guarantee of pre-war earnings 
made them a good investment. 

The railroad system in the United States consists of 260,000 
miles of railroad, owned by 441 distinct corporations, with about 



516 HISTORY OF THE WORLD V^^AR 

650,000 shareholders. It employs 1,600,000 men and represents a 
property investment of $17,500,000,000. The outstanding capital 
in round numbers is $16,000,000,000, $9,000,000,000 of which is 
represented by a funded debt. The rolling stock comprises 61,000 
locomotives, 2,250,000 freight cars, 52,000 passenger cars and 
95,000 service cars. All this was now under the charge of William G. 
McAdoo. On January 4, 1918, President Wilson explained his 
plan to Congress, and recommended legislation to put the new 
system of control into effect, and to guarantee to the holders of 
railroad stocks and bonds a net annual income equal to the average 
net income for the three years ending June 30, 1917. 

The wise recommendations of President Wilson were at once 
approved by Congress; provision was made for guaranteeing the 
railroads the income which he recommended, and, for financing the 
roads. The railroads' war board was abolished and Mr. McAdoo 
appointed an advisory board to assist him. This board consisted 
of John Skelton Williams, Controller of the Currency; Hale Holden, 
President of the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad; Henry 
Walters, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Atlantic Coast 
Line; Edward Chambers, Vice-President of the Santa F4 Railroad 
and head of the transportation division of the United States Food 
Administration; Walter D. Hines, Chairman of the Executive 
Committee of the Santa Fe. Specific duties were assigned to the 
various members of this committee. Mr. V/illiams was to deal 
with the financial problem; Mr. Holden to assume direction of 
committees and sub-committees, and other phases of the work 
were allotted to other members. Mr. Walter D. Hines was made 
assistant to the Director General. 

Mr. McAdoo's first order was to pool all terminals, ports, 
locomotives, rolling stock and other transportation faciHties, 
Another order had as its object to end the congestion of traffic in 
New York City and Chicago. It gave all lines entering these 
centers equal rights in trackage and water terminal facilities. This 
wiped out the identity of the great Pennsylvania Terminal Station 
in New York, and gave all railroads the use of the Pennsylvania 
tubes under the Hudson River. 

The effect of government control of the railroads was felt 
from the very first. Coal was given the right of way, giving great 
relief to such sections as were suffering from fuel shortage. Many 



TRANSPORTATION PROBLEMS 517 

passenger trains were taken off, more than two hundred and fifty 
of such trains being dropped from the schedules of the eastern 
roads. This permitted a great increase in the freight traffic. 
Orders were also given that all empty box cars were to be sent to 
wheat-producing centers, so that wheat could be moved to the 
Atlantic sea coasts for shipment to England and France. These 
orders preceded the adoption of the railroad control bill, which was 
not passed by Congi'ess until March 14th. A feature of the bill is 
the proviso that government control of the raiboads shall not 
continue more than twenty-one months after the war. After the 
passing of the bill plans were made to make contracts with each 
railroad company for government compensation on the basis 
provided in the bill. 

The action of the government in thus assuming control of the 
railroads very naturally led to wide differences of opinion, some of 
which were sharply expressed in the Congress of the United States. 
On the whole, however, public opinion decided that the government 
acted wisely. Certain inconveniences to the traveling pubHc were 
easily excused when it was reahzed that the movement of troops 
throughout the country to the camps, or from the camps to the 
ports which were to take them across the sea, from ''Texas to 
Toul," was being accomphshed with great success; that the move- 
ment of war material was now possible, and that the gigantic rail- 
road system was working without a hitch. 

Many details, in connection with the railroad management, 
were not at once worked out, and many months passed without 
complete agreements regarding the railway operating contracts. 
But this was a matter of greater interest to the owners than it was 
to patriotic citizens, anxious for the winning of the war. Govern- 
mental control of the railroads, was only a beginning. On 
July 16th President Wilson took control, for the period of the war, 
of all telegraph, telephone, cable and radio lines, signing a bill on 
that day passed by Congress authorizing such action. 

The transportation of the American army across the ocean 
was the greatest military feat of its kind ever accomplished in 
history. The transportation of English troops during the Boer War 
meant a longer journey, but the number of troops sent on that 
journey was but a small fraction of America's army. 

The railroads in existence were not sufficient. The ships that 



518 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR 

were necessary could not be found in America's navy. It was 
necessary to build new roads, new docks, new terminals, new bases 
of supplies in America, and to send abroad thousands of trained 
workmen and experienced railroad engineers to build similar necessi- 
ties in France. To convey the millions of men across the water 
England had to come to the rescue, and though hundreds of 
American ships were built with a speed that was almost miraculous, 
they were in constant need of the assistance of the Allies. But 
wonderful men were put in charge of the work, wonderful organizers 
mth wonderful assistants, and the great task was accompUshed. 

As soon as the army was trained it was sent across — first by 
thousands, then by tens of thousands, then by hundreds of thou- 
sands, until before the war was over more than two milUon men had 
made the great trip ''over there." And throughout that whole trip 
they were watched over as carefully as if they were at home. Every 
want was supplied; food, clothing, munitions were all where they 
were needed. Even their leisure hours were looked after, their 
health attended to. Books, games, theaters, classes for those who 
cared to study, all were there. 

It was a wonderful performance, and the whole movement was 
conducted with clock-like precision. On such a day at such an 
hour the trained soldier would start. At such an hour he would 
report in some Atlantic port. At such an hour and such a minute 
he would board ship, and with equal precision that ship would sail 
upon the appointed moment. Perhaps on the journey over some 
submarine might delay the ship, but the destroyers were there on 
the alert, and the submarine was but an amusing episode. On the 
other side the process was carried on with equal efficiency. Before 
the American doughboy could reahze that he was in France he was in 
his quarters, just like home, in the base camps behind the fighting 
line, and it was this miracle of transportation that won the war. 

A study of transportation construction in other countries 
showed that actual construction of railroads had been suspended 
in some cases, and in others retarded, but in not a few instances 
hastened by the war. Brazil experienced a more nearly complete 
suspension of railroad building than any of the other countries, 
but preparation was made for prompt resumption of construction, 
with the return of more normal conditions. 

The Chinese building program also had been affected unf avor- 



TRANSPORTATION PROBLEMS 519 

ably by the war. Nevertheless, there were important additions 
made, aggregating approximately 800 miles during the war. Of 
the lines completed in 1917, two are of especial significance. One 
of these, a 140-mile section of the Canton-Hankow line, a link in 
the route between South China and Peking. The other is a 60-mile 
feeder of the Trans-Siberian Railway in Manchuria. A line was 
extended from South Manchuria into Mongolia, the first railroad to 
penetrate this territory. Financial arrangements were made for 
the early construction of a line across Southern Manchuria and for 
another connecting the Peking-Hankow and Tientsin-Pukow lines. 

Construction in Siberia proceeded rapidly. The completion, 
in 1915, of the Amur River division of the Trans-Siberian in the 
east, together with the extension in 1913 of the Ekaterinburg- 
Tiumen line to Omsk in the west, gave virtually a double track 
from European Russia to Vladivostok. 

The notable achievement in Africa was the continuation of the 
southern rail link in the Cape-to-Cairo route. This line was com- 
pleted to Bukama on the navigable Congo, 2,600 miles from Cape- 
town. The railway in German East Africa, was extended to Lake 
Tanganyika on the eve of the war, making a rail-water line across the 
center of the continent. The railroad from Lobito Bay was extended 
eastward to Katanga, a rich mineral region of the Belgian Congo, 
and, with the road already reaching the Indian Ocean at Beira, 
gave a second east and west transcontinental line. A permanent 
standard gauge railroad was laid by the British Expeditionary 
Forces from Egypt into Palestine. 

Despite the magnitude of the Australian contribution to the 
Allied military and naval forces, the east and west transcontinental . 
railway, begun in 1912, was completed in 1917. In all, more than 
3,500 miles of track were built in the conunonwealth in the years 
1915-17. 

In Canada, the work of providing two transcontinental 
railroads was completed ; feeders were added, and a Une from La Pas 
to Hudson Bay was under construction. From 1912 to 1916 more 
than 10,000 miles of track were put in operation, nearly 7,000 of 
which were added in the first two years of the war. 




CHAPTER XL 

Ships and the Men Who Made Them. 

'HEN the United States of America entered the World 
War she was confronted at once by a serious question. 
The great AlUed nations were struggling against the 
attempt of the Germans, through the piratical use of 
submarines, to blockade the coast of the AlHed countries. It was 
this German action which had led America to take part in the war. 
It is true that America had other motives. Few wars ever take 
place among democratic nations as a result of the calculation of the 
nation's leaders. The people must be interested, and the people 
must sympathize with the cause for which they are going to fight. 
The people of America had sympathized with Belgium, and had 
become indignant at the brutal treatment of that inoffensive nation. 
They had sympathized with France in its gallant endeavor to 
protect its soil from the inroads of the Hun. This feeling had 
become a personal one as they reviewed the lists of Americans lost 
in the sinking of the Lusitania, and this sympathy had gradually 
grown into indignation when the Germans, after having promised 
to conduct submarine warfare according to international law, again 
and again violated that promise. When, then, the Germans declared 
that they would no longer even pretend to treat neutral shipping 
according to the laws of maritime warfare the people with one accord 
approved the action of the President of the United States in 
declaring war. The Germans at this time were making a desperate 
effort to starve England, by destroying its commerce, and it was in 
the endeavor to accomplish this purpose that they thought it 
necessary to attack American ships. 

The first effort of Americans, therefore, was naturally to use 
every power of the navy to destroy the lurking submarines, and in 
the second place to use every means in their power to supply the 
Alhes with food. But America had for many years neglected to 
give encouragement to her merchant fleets. Her commerce was 
very largely carried in foreign bottoms. 

520 



SHIPS AND THE MEN WHO MADE THEM 521 

Ships were needed, and needed urgently, and one of the very- 
first acts of the American Govemnient was to authorize their pro- 
duction. Congress therefore apprcpriated for this purpose what 
was then the extraordinary sum cf $1,135,000,000 and General 
Goetlials, recently returned from his work in building the Panama 
Canal, was appointed manager of the Emergency Fleet Corporation 
and entrusted with the execution of the government's ship-building 
program. 

The Emergency Fleet Corporation, however, was then inde- 
pendent of the United States Shipping Board, of which Mr. William 
Denman was made chairman, and friction between General Goethals 
and j\ir. Denman at the very start caused long delay. The difference 
of opinion between them arose over the comparative merits of 
wooden and steel ships. The matter was finally laid before President 
Wilson and ended in the resignation of both men and the complete 
reorganization of the board and the Fleet Corporation, in which 
reorganization the Fleet Corporation was made subordinate to the 
Shipping Board but given entu'e control of construction, 

Rear-Admiral Capps succeeded General Goethals, but was 
compelled to resign on account of ill health. Rear-Admiral Harris, 
who had been chief of the Navy's Bureau of Yards and Docks, 
then had the job for two weeks, but resigned because in his opinion 
he had not enough authority. Then came Mr. Charles Piez, who 
held the position for a longer period. Mr. Edward N. Hurley had 
been made chairman of the United States Shipping Board, and 
under the direction of these two men much progress was made. 

In the spring of 1918 the boards themselves were not satisfied 
with their progress, and on April 16, 1918, Mr. Charles M. SchY\^ab, 
chairman of the Board of Directors of the Bethlehem Steel Corpora- 
tion, was made Director General of the Emergency Fleet Corpora- 
tion. Mr. Schv/ab was one of the most prominent business men in 
the United States and one of the best knov/n, and his appointment 
was received all over the country with the greatest satisfaction. 
His wonderful work in building up the Bethlehem steel plant not 
only showed his great ability, but especially fitted him for a task 
in which the steel industry bore such a vital part. The ofi&cial 
statement issued from the White House read as follows: 

Edward N. Hurley, Charles M. Schwab, Bainbridge Colby and Charles 
Piez were received by the President at the White House today. It was 

29 



522 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR 

stated that the subject discussed was the progress and condition of a 
national ship-building program. The carrying forward of the construction 
work in the one hundred and thirty sliipyards now in operation is so vast 
that it requires a reinforcement of the ship-building organization through- 
out the country. Later in the day Chairman Hurley of the Shipping 
Board announced that a new office with wide powers had been created 
by the Trustees of the Emergency Fleet Corporation. The new position 
is that of Director General and Mr. Schwab has been asked, and has 
agreed, to accept this position in answer to the call of the nation. Charles 
Piez, Vice-President of the Emergency Fleet Corporation, recommended 
that the post of General Manager of the corporation be at once abolished, 
so that Mr. Schwab as Director General should be wholly unhampered in 
carrying on the large task entrusted to him. Mr. Piez, since the retirement 
of Admiral Harris, has been filling both the position of Vice-President and 
that of General Manager. Mr. Schwab will have complete supervision 
and direction of the work of ship-building. He agreed to take up the work 
at the sacrifice of his personal wishes in the matter. His services were 
virtually commandeered. His great experience as a steel maker and 
builder of ships has been drafted for the nation. 

Although the fact that production during the month of March 
had not been as great as had been hoped probably brought about 
this change, it should also be said that those who had been respon- 
sible deserved much credit for what had actually been done. They 
had been handicapped constantly by poor transportation and 
shortage of materials, but had worked faithfully and with what 
under ordinary circumstances would be regarded as remarkable 
success. The call upon Mr. Schwab was simply an effort to draft 
into the service of the country its very highest executive ability. 
Mr. Schwab's name had been mentioned before for more than one 
government post, and it was thought that here was the place 
where his talents could have the fullest play. It was stated in 
Washington that he would receive a salary of one dollar a year. 

Mr. Schwab at once proceeded to ''speed up" the shipping 
program. It took him just one day to arrange his own business 
affairs and then he began his work. His first day was spent in 
going over the details of his task with Chairman Hurley and Mr. 
Piez. He then received nev/spaper men, beginning the campaign 
of pubhcity which turned out to be so successful. He was full of 
compliments for the work which had already been done. "It is 
prodigious, splendid, magnificent!" he said. 'Tt is far greater than 
any man who hasn't seen the inside of things can appreciate. The 



SHIPS AND THE MEN WHO MADE THEM 523 

foundation is laid. That task is well done. We are going to get 
the results which are needed and I should be proud if I could have 
any part in the accomplishment. All I can say for myself is that 
I am filled with enthusiasm, energy and confidence. Mr. Hurley 
and I are in full accord on everything, and we are going to work 
shoulder to shoulder to make the work a success, but the large 
burden must fall upon the people at the yards, and they are entitled 
to any credit for success. I do not want to have any man in the 
shipyards^ working for me. I want them aU working with me. 
Nothing is gomg to be worth while unless we win this war, and 
every one must do the task to which he is called." 

One of the first steps that Mr. Schwab took to speed up ship 
production was to estabhsh his headquarters in Philadelphia, as the 
center of the ship-building region. Chairman Hurley remained at 
Washington, and the operating department, which included agencies 
such as the Inter-AlUed Ship Control Committee, was removed to 
New York City. It was stated that nearly fifty per cent of the 
work in progress v/as within a short radius of Philadelphia. 

The year before the war the total output of the United States 
shipyards was only two hundred and fifty thousand tons. The 
program, of the shippmg board contemplated the construction of 
one thousand one hundred and forty-five steel ships, with a tonnage 
of eight milHon one hundred and sixty-four thousand five hundred 
and eight, and four hundred and ninety wooden ships, with a 
tonnage of one million seven hundred and fifteen thousand. These 
of course could not be built in the shipyards then in existence. 
New shipyards had to be built in various parts of the country. 

In the first year after the shipping board took control, one 
hundred and eighty-eight ships were put in the water and through 
requisition and by building, one hundred and three more were 
added to the American merchant fleet. By April, 1918, the govern- 
ment had at its service 2,762,605 tons of shipping. During the 
month of May, the first month after Mr. Schwab began his work, 
the record of production had mounted from 160,286 tons to 263,57l! 
American shipyards had completed and dehvered during 'that 
month forty-three steel ships and one wooden ship. Mr. Hurley, 
in an address on June 10th, said: 

o rr.?nJ^^^ ^^*' ^® ^^^ increased the American built tonnage to over 
3,500,000 dead-weight tons of shipping. This gives us a total of more 



5M HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR 

than one thousand four hundred ships with an approximate total dead- 
weight tonnage of 7,000,000 now under the control of the United States 
Shipping Board. In round numbers and from, all sources we have added 
to the American flag since our war against Germany began, nearly 4,500,000 
tons of shipping. Our program calls for the building of 1,856 passenger, 
cargo and refrigerator ships and tankers, ranging from five thousand to 
twelve thousand tons each, with an aggregate dead-weight of thirteen 
million. Exclusive of these we have two hundred and forty-five com- 
mandeered vessels, taken over from foreign and domestic owners which 
are being completed by the Emergency Fleet Corporation. These will 
aggregate a total dead-wight tonnage of 1,715,000. This makes a total of 
two thousand one hundred and one vessels, exclusive of tugs and barges 
which are being built and will be put on the seas in the course of carrying 
out the present program, with an aggregate dead-weight tonnage of 
14,715,000. Five billion dollars will be required to finish our program, but 
the expenditure of this enormous sum will give to the American people the 
greatest merchant fleet ever assembled in the history of the world. 
American workmen have made the expansion of recent months possible, 
and they will make possible the successful conclusion of the whole program. 

In the wonderful work that followed his appointment Mr. 
Schwab constantly came before the public, mainly through his 
addresses to the working men of the different yards. His main 
endeavor was to stimulate enthusiasm and rivalry among the men. 
A ten-thousand-dollar prize was offered to the yard producing the 
largest surplus above its program, and he traveled throughout the 
country urging the employees at ail the great yards to break their 
records. The result of his work was that it was not long before it 
was announced that the monthly tonnage of ships completed by the 
Allies exceeded the tonnage of those sunk by the German submarine. 
The menace of the submarine, which had seemed so formidable, 
had disappeared. 

The most important of the great shipyards which were pro- 
ducing the American cargo ships was at Hog Island in the southwest 
part of Philadelphia. This shipyard may indeed be called the 
greatest shipyard in the world. Before Mr. Schwab became 
Director General much criticism had been launched at the work 
that was going on there, and an investigation had been made which 
resulted in a favorable report. On August 5th the new shipyard 
launched its first ship, the 7,500 ton freight steamer, Quistconck, 
in the presence of a distinguished throng among whom were the 
President of the United States and Mrs. Woodrow Wilson. The 



SHIPS AND THE MEN WHO MADE THEM 5^5 

ship was christened by Mrs. Wilson, and the President swung his 
hat and led the cheers as the great ship glided down the ways. 
The name ''Quistconck" is the ancient Indian name of Hog Island. 
The crowd numbered more than sixty thousand people, and special 
trains from Washington and New York brought many notable 
guests. President and Mrs. Wilson were escorted by Mr. Hurley 
and Mr. Schwab, and apparently thoroughly enjoyed the occasion. 
An enormous bouquet was presented to Mrs. Wilson by Foreman 
McMillan, who had driven the first rivet in the Quistconck's keel. 

Shortly after the armistice it was announced that the Hog 
Island plant would be acquired by the United States Government. 
The real estate, valued at $1,760,000, yvsls owned by the American 
International Ship Building Company, and the government had 
invested about $60,000,000 in equipping the plant. At the time 
the war ended thirty-five thousand persons were at work and a 
hundred and eighty ships were in various stages of com^pletion. 

An interesting feature in connection with the endeavor to 
*' speed up" was the competition in riveting. Early in the year 
in yard after yard expert riveters were reported as making extraor- 
dinary records, and prizes were offered to the winners of such 
records. Later, however, such contests were discouraged by 
Chairman Hurley and by others. The best record was made by 
John Omir, who drove twelve thousand two hundred and nine 
rivets in nine hours at the Belfast Yards of Workman and Clark. 
In the accomplishment of this feat on two occasions he passed the 
mark of one thousand four hundred rivets an hour. In his best 
minute he drove twenty-six rivets. 

The ships constructed by the Shipping Board were of steel, of 
wood and of concrete, and at times considerable difference of 
opinion existed with regard to which form of ship should receive 
the most attention. The policy of the government seemed finally 
to favor the steel as it was claimed that the wooden type was not 
only more expensive, but that it was less efficient. However until 
the very end wooden ships in great numbers were being built. 

On May 31st the steamship Agawam, described as the fii'st 
fabricated ship in the world, was launched in the yards of the 
Submarine Boat Corporation at Newark. This was essentially a 
standardized steel cargo ship. "Fabricated" is the technical term 
applied to ships built from numbered shapes made from patterns. 



526 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR 

President Carse, of the Submarine Boat Corporation, said that 
the Agawam was the first of a hundred and fifty vessels of that 
type which would be constructed in the yard. The parts were made, 
he said, in bridge and tank shops throughout the country and were 
assembled at the yard. '' Ninety-five per cent of the work in 
forming the parts entering into the hull of this vessel, and punching 
rivet holes, is done at shops widely separated, from drawings fur- 
nished by this company, and these drawings have been of such exac- 
titude, and the work has been so carefully performed by the different 
bridge shops that when they are brought together at this yard they 
fit perfectly and the ship as you see is absolutely fair. The con- 
struction of the hull of this vessel requires the driving of over four 
hundred thousand rivets, and by our method more then one quarter 
of these rivets are driven at the distant shops, the different parts 
being brought to the yard in sections as large as can be transported 
on the railroad. Each part is numbered and lettered and as they 
are shaped perfectly all that is necessary is to place them in position, 
bolt them, and finally fasten them with rivets.'* 

Officials of the company said that they expected to launch in 
the course of time two such vessels in each week. A standard ship 
of this type has a dead-weight carrying capacity of five thousand 
five hundred tons. It is three hundred and forty-three feet long 
and forty-six feet wide and is expected to show an average speed 
of ten and a half knots. Fuel oil is used to generate steam, to drive 
a turbine operating three thousand six hundred revolutions a 
minute. The oil is carried in compartments of the double bottom 
of the ship in sufficient quantity for more than a round trip to 
Europe. Twenty-seven steel mills, fifty-six fabricating plants, 
and two hundred foundries and equipment shops were drawn upon 
to construct the ship. 

In addition to the steel and wood vessels the Emergency Fleet 
Corporation also constructed a number of concrete ships. The 
first step in this direction was taken on April 3d, when the con- 
struction of four 7,500-ton concrete ships at a Pacific coast shipyard 
was authorized. This action was taken as a result of a report on 
the trials made with the concrete ship. Faith, which was built in 
San Francisco by private capital. The test of this ship had been 
satisfactory and Mr. R. J. Wig, an agent of the Emergency Fleet 
Corporation, who had made a careful inspection of the Faith and 



SHIPS AND THE MEN WHO MADE THEM 527 

watched the tests, reported his confidence m the new cargo carrier. 
The successful trial trip of the Faith led, on the 17th of May, to the 
government order that fifty-eight more such ships be constructed. 
Sites for yards were leased and contracts awarded. The concrete 
ship turned out to be a great success. 

The extraordinary success of the American ship-building pro- 
gram during the World War was due to the enthusiasm of the 
workmen employed at the government plants, and that same 
enthusiasm was found in connection with their work in every 
industry on which the Government made demands. American 
labor was thoroughly loyal. It recognized that in the war for 
democracy against autocracy it had a vital concern. The attitude 
of the great American labor unions must however be sharply 
distinguished from that of, the extreme sociahsts who refused to 
take any part in helping to win the war. 

From the very beginning, the American Federation of Labor 
took a patriotic stand. Its leader was Mr. Samuel Gompers, and 
it was fortunate for America that the leadership of this great 
organization was in such patriotic hands. Mr. Gompers had been 
for many years president of this great labor organization, and was 
so often called in consultation by the President of the United States 
in connection with labor affairs that he might almost be called an 
unofficial member of the President's cabinet. Mr. Gompers was 
by birth an Englishman, but he had left his home when still a boy 
and was thoroughly filled with true American patriotism. From the 
beginning he devoted himself with the greatest enthusiasm not only 
to the protection of the interests of which he was in charge, but to 
the prosecution of a successful v/ar. He had to contend, as labor 
leaders in other countries had been compelled to contend, with 
sociahstic and anarchistic organizations. 

During the period of America's participation in the war there 
were certain disturbances caused by the I. W. W., but from such 
movements the American Federation of Labor held itself aloof. 
Occasional strikes, on account of special conditions, were easily 
settled. The governmental assumption of control over railroads 
and other essential industries had much to do with the peaceful 
attitude of the workmen. The very high wages which were offered 
to the workmen at munitions works, ship-building plants and other 
governmental enterprises enabled the workmen there to live in 



528 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR 

reasonable comfort, though it caused a great deal of trouble in 
private industry, and compelled an increase in pay to labor all over 
the land. 

In the latter part of the war Mr. Gompers traveled abroad, as a 
representative of American labor, and was greeted everywhere with 
the utmost enthusiasm, while his influence was strongly felt in 
favor of moderate and sane views as to labor's rights. 

The American situation with regard to labor was made much 
simpler by the organization of the United States Employment 
Service. This v/as made an arm of the Department of Labor, with 
branch offices in nearly all the large cities of every state. It had a 
large corps of traveling examiners, men skilled in determining the 
fitness of workers for particular jobs, and it undertook to recruit 
labor for the various war industries in which they were needed. 
During the last year of the war from a hundred and fifty thousand 
to two hundred thousand workers of all kinds were given work each 
month. In addition to this the Employment Service was a clearing 
house of information for manufacturers. The Director General of 
this service was Mr. John B. Densmore. 

Labor throughout the country, except when influenced by men 
of foreign birth who were not in touch with the spirit of America, 
was universally loyal, and its share in the winning of the war will 
always remain a matter for pride. 






S' 
^ 








<A 


03 






-^A 






CB 


+j 






^ 


^ 














^ 


c3 






•^ 


ft 






'6 


CQ 






M 


^ 






o3 


03 














s^'^ 






0) 








-tJ 


O 






o3 


OQ 






> 


fl 








03 






*• 


O 




H 


03 


S 




Pi 


^ 


03 

a 




o 


■+J 




P^ 


03 


< 




Xfl 


1 


^ 




1 


1— 1 


03 

bo 

03 


H 


o 


6D 


gg 




^ 


d 


cd 


c» 


-1^ 


>> 

o3 


ft 


p 


O 


o3 


<J 


03 




PI 


CO 

<: 


^ 
1 


1 

ft 


03 
03 




O 


a 


4-> 


o 


o 


o3 


+3 


oi 




03 

O 

Xi 


^ 


f^ 


03 


03 




CD 


'S-^ 


w 


o3 


^ 


X3 


w 


OQ 


3 




H 


03 




a 


-j^ 


03 fR 


HH 


'3 


^ 


(S 


(-4 


■(J 


03 
A 

o3 


1 


CO 


> 


1 


"3 


H 
w 


^ 


03 


o; 


03 


(J 


£ 


p>^ 


> 


"^ 


03 


^ 


o 


03 


.^ 


p^ 


fl 


■+J 


fl 


3 


03 P-. 


o 
.2 


^-s 


U 


03 




fl 


?3 


CQ 




o: 


^ 






£ 


03 


o 




fcl 


A 


♦-H 




03 


02 


'^-( 




o 




-fii 




03 


^• 


,£3 




•+^ 


'S 


03 




bC^ 


13 






^ 


O 
tn 




£ 


> 


03 




-5 


& 


.a 



ftH 



CHAPTER XLI 

Germany's Dying Desperate Effort 

N THE spring of 1918 it must have been plain to the German 
High Command that if the war was to be won it must be won 
at once. In spite of all their leaders said of the impossibility 
of bringing an American army to France they must have been 
well informed of what the Americans were doing. They knew that 
there were already more than two million men in active training in 
the American army, and while at that time only a small proportion 
of them were available on the battle front, yet every day that pro- 
portion was growing greater and by the middle of the summer the 
little American army would have become a tremendous fighting 
forc&i 

Their own armies on their western front had been enormously 
increased in size by the removal to that front of troops from. Russia. 
Hundreds of thousands of their best regiments were now withdrawn 
from the east and incorporated under the command of their great 
Generals, Hindenburg and Ludendorf, in the armies of the v/est. 
They must, therefore, take advantage of this increased force and 
win the war before the Americans could come. 

The problem of the AUies was also simple. It was not nec- 
essary for them to plan a great offensive. All they had to do was 
to hold out until, through the American aid which was coming now 
in such numbers, their armies would be so increased that German 
resistance would be futile. Under such circumstances began the 
last great offensive of the Germ^an army. 

At that time it seems probable that the armies of Great Britain 
and France numbered about tln-ee million five hundred thousand 
men, and that, of these, six hundred and seventy thousand were 
on the front Hues when the German attack began, leaving an army 
of reserve of about two million eight hundred and fifty thousand 
men. A considerable number of these were probably in England on 
leave. The number of French soldiers must have been between 
four and five million, of whom about one milhon five hundred 

631 



532 



HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR 




HOW GERMANY ATTEMPTED TO DIVIDE THE ALLIED ARMIES 

The map shows the ground covered by the Germans in the terrific Picardy drive 
of March, 1918, which had for its object the capture of Amiens and the push forward 
along the Somme to the channel, thus dividing the British army in the north from the 
French and Americans in the south. 



GERMANY'S DYING DESPERATE EFFORT 533 

thousand were on the front hne. Adding to these the American, 
Belgian, Portuguese, Russian and Polish troops the Alhed forces 
could not have been short of eight million five hundred thousand 
men. 

The strength of the Germans on the western front before the 
Russian Revolution was probably about four million five hundred 
thousand men, and the withdrawal of Russia from the war had 
added to that number probably as many as one million five hundred 
thousand men, making an army of six million men to oppose that 
of the AlHes. The AlHes, therefore, must have considerably out- 
numbered the Germans. 

In spite of this fact in nearly all the engagements in the early 
part of the great offensive the Alhed forces were outnumbered in 
a ratio varying from three to one to five to three. This was possible, 
first, because in any offensive the attacking side naturally con- 
centrates as many troops as it can gather at the point from which the 
offense is to begin, and second, since the Alhes were not under one 
command it was with great difficulty that arrangements could 
be made by which the forces of one nation could reinforce the 
armies of another. i_i 

The first difficulty of course could not be obviated, but the 
solution of the second difficulty was the appointment of General 
Foch as Commander-in-Chief of all the Allied forces. 

The appointment was made on March 28th and all the influence 
of the United States had been exerted in its favor. General 
Pershing at once offered to General Foch the unrestricted use of the 
American force in France and it was agreed that a large part of the 
American army should be brigaded with the Alhed troops wherever 
there were weak spots. 

Foch was already famous as the greatest strategist in Europe. 
He comes of a Basque family and was born in the town of Tarbes, 
in the Department of the Hautes-Pyrenees, which is on the border of 
Spain, on October 2, 1851. Foch served as a subaltern in the 
Franco-Prussian War and at twenty-six was made captain in the 
artillery. Later he became Professor of Tactics in the Ecole de 
Guerre, where he remained for five years. He then returned to regi- 
mental work and won steady promotion until he became brigadier- 
general. He was sent back to the War College as Director and 
wrotejfcwo books, *'The Principles of War" and ''Conduct of War," 



534 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR 

which have been translated into English, German and Italian and 
are considered standard works. He was now recognized as a man 
of unusual ability and was appointed to the command first, of the 
Thirteenth division, then of the Eighth corps at Bourges, and 
then to the conamand of the Twentieth corps at Nancy. 

Unlike Marshal Joffre who v/as cool, careful, slow moving, 
Marshal Foch is full of daring and impetuosity. Everything is 
calculated scientifically but his strategy is full of dash. Many of 
his sayings have been passed from mouth to mouth among the 
AUies. 

''Find out the weak point of your enemy and deliver your blow 
there," he said once at a staff banquet. 

''But suppose. General," said an officer, "that the enemy has 
no weak point?" 

"If the enemy has no weak point," repHed the Commander, 
"make one." 

It was he who telegraphed to Joffre during the first battle of 
the Marne: "The enemy is attacking m}^ flank. My rear is 
threatened. I am therefore attacking in front." 

Foch is a great student, an especial admirer of Napoleon, 
whose campaigns he had thoroughly studied. Even the campaigns 
of Caesar he had found valuable and had gathered from them 
practical suggestions for his own campaigns. He is the hero of the 
Marne, the man who on Septem^ber 9th marched his army between 
Von Billow and Von Hansen's Saxons, drove the Prussian Guards 
into the marshes of St. Gond and forced both Prussians and Saxons 
into their first great retreat. Later his armies fought on the Yser 
while the British were batthng at Ypres. During the battle of the 
Somme he was on the English right pressing to Peronne. 

For a time he became Chief of the French Staff, until he was 
called into the field again to his great conamand. Foch was one 
of those French officers who had felt that war was sure to come, 
and had constantly urged that France should be kept in a state of 
preparedness. The appointment of General Foch to the Supreme 
Command was largely the result of American urgency. 

General March, the American Chief of Staff, in one of his 
weekly announcements, stated: "One of the most striking things 
noticeable in the situation as it is shown on the western front is 
the supreme importance of having a single command. The accep- 



GERMANY'S DYING DESPERATE EFFORT 535 

tance of the principle of having a single command, which was 
advocated by the President of the United States and carried through 
under his constant pressure, is one of the most important single 
miUtary things that has been done as far as the Allies are concerned. 
The unity of command wliich Germany has had from the start of the 
war has been a very important mihtary asset, and we aheady see 
the supreme value of having that central command which now 
has been concentrated in General Foch." 

General March, who had earlier been appointed Chief of Staff 
of the United States army, was sending a steady stream of 
American troops to Europe, a fact whose importance was well 
understood by the new Commander-in-Chief. On General March's 
promotion General Foch sent him the following message: 

I hear with deep satisfaction of your promotion to the rank of General. 
I associate myself to the just pride which you must feel in evoking the 
names of your glorious predecessors, Grant and Sheridan. I convey to 
you my sincere congratulations and I am happy to see you assume per- 
manently the huge task of Chief of Staff of the United States army which 
you are already performing in so brilliant a way. 

General March rephed: 

Your message of congratulation upon my promotion to the grade of 
General Chief of Staff, United States army, was personally conveyed to 
me by General Vignal, French Military Attache. I appreciate deeply 
your most kindly greetings and in expressing my most sincere thanks, avail 
myself of the opportunity to assure you of every assistance and constant 
support which may lie in my power to aid you in the furtherance and 
successful accomplishment of your great task. 

General Foch took command at a very critical time. The 
Germans had prepared the most formidable drive in the history 
of the war. They had gathered immense masses of munitions and 
supplies. Their great armies had been refitted and they were in 
hopes of a victory which v/ould end the war. Their great offensive 
had many phases. It resulted in the development of three great 
salients, the first in Picardy and in the direction of Amiens along 
the Somme, which was launched on March 21st; the second on the 
Lys, which was launched on April 9th; and the third which is 
called the Oise-Mame salient, launched on May 27th. 

Between the attacks which developed these salients there 
were also some unsuccesful attacks of almost equal power. On 



536 



HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR 



March 28th there was a desperate struggle to capture Arras, pre- 
ceded by a bombardment as great as any during the whole offensive, 
but this attack was defeated with enormous losses to the German 
troops. A fourth phase of the German offensive took place on 
June 9th, on a front of twenty miles between Noyon and Mont- 
didier, which gained a few miles at an enormous cost. 




The Last Desperate Drives of the Germans 

Gn July 15th came the last of the great offensives. It was a 
smash on a sixty-mile line from Chateau-Thierry up the Mame, 
around Rheims, and then east to a few miles west of the Argonne 
forest. This offensive at the start made a penetration of from 
three to five miles, but was held firmly and much of the gain lost, 
through the counter-attacks of the Allies. It was at this point 
that the American troops first began to be seriously felt, and it 



GERMANY'S DYING DESPERATE EFFORT 537 

was at this point that General Foch took up the story, and began 
the great series of Allied drives which were to crush the German 
power. But there had been many days of great anxiety before the 
turn of the tide. 

The objects of the German drives were doubtless more or less 
dependent upon their success. The first drive in Picardy, in the 
direction of Amiens had apparently as its object to drive a wedge 
between the French and British and the object was so nearly attained 
that only the heroic work of General Carey saved the Allies from 
disaster. 

The Fifth British army, which had borne the brunt of the 
German attack, had found itself almost crushed by the sheer weight 
of numbers. The whole line was broken up and it seemed as if the 
road was open to Amiens. French reinforcements could not come up 
in time; bridges could not be blown up because the engineers were 
all killed. Orders came to General Carey at two o'clock in the 
morning, March 26th, to hold the gap. He at once proceeded to 
gather an extemporized army. 

Every available man was rounded up, among others a body of 
American engineers. Laborers, sappers, raw recruits as well as 
soldiers of every arm. There were plenty of machine guns, but 
few men knew how to handle them. With this scratch army in 
temporary trenches, he lay for six days, and as Lloyd George said, 
''They held the German army and closed that gap on the way 
to Amiens." 

During this fight General Carey rode along the lines shouting 
encouraging words to his hard-pressed men. He did not know 
whether he would get supplies of ammunition and provisions or 
not, but he stuck to it. Later on the regular troops arrived. The 
American engineers, who had been fighting, immediately returned 
to their base, and resumed work laying out trenches. General 
Rawlinson, Commander of the British army at that point, sent the 
commanding officer of the Americans engaged, the following 
letter : 

The army Commander wishes to record officially his appreciation of 
the excellent work your regiment has done in assisting the British army to 
resist the enemy's powerful offensive during the last ten days. I fully 
realize that it has been largely due to your assistance that the enemy has 
been checked, and I rely on you to assist us still further during the few 



538. HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR 

days that are still to come before I shall be able to relieve you in the hne. 
I consider your work in the line to be greatly enhanced by the fact that for 
six v/eeks previous to your taking your place in the front line your men had 
been working at such high pressure erecting heavy bridges on the Somme. 
My best congratulations and warm thanks to all. 

Rawlinson. 

The demoralization of General Gough's Fifth army, which had 
thus left an eight-mile gap on the left, and which had been saved at 
that point by General Carey, permitted also the opening of another 
gap between its right v/ing and the Sixth French army. Here 
General FayoUe did with organized troops what Carey had done 
with his volunteers further north. The reason for the success 
of both Carey and Fayolle appears to have been that the German 
armies had been so thoroughly battered that they were unable to 
take advantage of the situation. Their regiments had been mixed 
up, their officers had been separated from their men in the rush 
of the attack, and before they could recover the opportunity was 
lost. 

The first days of April saw the end of the drive toward Amiens. 
The Germans claimed the capture of ninety thousand prisoners 
and one thousand three hundred guns. They had penetrated into 
the Allies' territory in some points a distance of thirty-five miles. 
Their new line extended southwest from AiTas beyond Albert to the 
west of Moreuil, which is about nine miles south of Amiens, and 
then went on v/est of Pierrepont and Montdidier, curving out &t 
Noyon to the region of the Oise. 

The first part of April was a comparative calm, when suddenly 
there developed the second drive of the German offensive. This 
drive was not so extensive as the first one, and its object appeared 
to be to break through the British forces in Flanders and reach the 
Channel ports. It resulted in a salient embracing an area about 
three hundred and twenty square miles, and the Germans claimed 
the capture of twenty thousand prisoners and two hundred guns. 
It was at this point that General Haig issued his famous order in 
which he described the British armies as standing with their ''backs 
to the wall." It reads as follows: 

Three weeks ago today the enemy began his terrific attacks against 
us on a fifty-mile front. Its objects are to separate us from the French, 
to take the Channel ports, and to destroy the British army. In spite of 
throwing already one hundred and six divisions into the battle and enduring 



GERMANY'S DYING DESPERATE EFFORT 539 

the most reckless sacrifice of human life, he has yet made little progress 
toward his goals. We owe this to the determined fighting and self-sacrifice 
of our troops. Words fail me to express the admiration which I feel for the 
splendid resistance offered by all ranks of our army under the most trying 
circumstances. Many among us now are tired. To those I would say 
that victory v/ill belong to the side which holds out the longest. The 
French army is moving rapidly and in great force to our support. There 
is no other course open to us but to fight it out. Every position must be 
held to the last man. There must be no retiring. With our backs to the 
wall and believing in the justice of our cause each one of us must fight to 
the end. The safety of our homes, and the freedom of m.ankind depend 
alike upon the conduct of each one of us at this critical moment. 

The British commander's order made the situation clear to the 
British people and to the world. The Germans had given up for 
the moment their attem^pt to divide the British and French armies, 
and were now attempting to seize the Channel ports, and the 
British v/ere fighting with true British pluck with their ''backs 
to the wall." 

One can imagine the anxiety in the villages of Flanders where 
they watched the German advance and heard the terrible bombard- 
ment which was destroying their beautiful Httle cities, and thi-eaten- 
ing to put them under the dominion of the brutal conquerors of 
Belgium. Town after town fell to the enemy until at last the 
German attack began to weaken. 

Counter-attacks on April 17th recaptured the villages of 
Wytschaete and Meteren. At other points German attacks were 
repulsed, and the attack on the Lys had reached its limits. It had 
not only failed to reach the coast but it had not even reached so 
far as to force the evacuation of Ypres or to endanger Arras. On 
the contrary the Germans had paid for their advance by such 
terrible losses that the ground that they had gained meant ahnost 
nothing. They then made, on April 30th, a vigorous endeavor to 
broaden the Amiens salient in the region of Hangard and Noyon. 
This attack also failed. 

On May 27th Ludendorf made his next move. This was in 
the south, and was preceded by the most elaborate preparations 
over a forty-mile front. At first it met with great success. German 
troops from a point northwest of Rheims to Montdidier were moving 
apparently with the purpose of breaking the French hues and 
clearing the way for a drive to Paris. Consternation reigned among 



540 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR 

Allied observers as the Germans carried, apparently with ease, 
first the formidable Chemin des Dames, which was believed invul- 
nerable, and then the south bank of the Aisne, with its great forti- 
fications at Soissons. 

Criticism began to appear of General Foch, who was thought 
at first to have been taken by surprise. The Germans were using 
four hundred thousand of their best troops, and the greatest force 
of tanks, machine guns and poison-gas projectors which they had 
ever gathered. They captured over forty-five thousand prisoners 
and took four hundred guns. They penetrated thirty miles and 
gained six hundred and fifty square miles of territory, but they 
were held on the River Marne.^ 

It is now apparent that General Foch knew exactly what he 
was about. He might easily, by sending in reinforcements, have 
put up the same desperate resistance to the German offensive 
which they were now meeting in other sectors. But he preferred 
to retreat and lead the enemy on to a position which would make 
them vulnerable to the great counter-attack he was preparing for 
them on their flank. The Germans reached the Marne, but they 
paid for it in the terrible losses which they incurred. 

The German line now from Montdidier, the extreme point of 
the Amiens salient, to Chateau-Thierry, the point of the new Marne 
salient, was in the form of a bow, and on June 9th General Luden- 
dorf attempted to straighten out the line. His new attack was 
made on a twenty-mile front between Montdidier and Noyon in the 
direction of Compiegne. This was another terrific drive and at 
first gained about seven miles. French counter-attacks, however, 
not only held him in a vise but regained a distance of about one 
mile. This battle was probably the most disastrous one fought 
by the Germans during their whole offensive. Nearly four hundred 
thousand men were completely used up, without gaining the slightest 
strategic success. 

Then followed a period without battles of major importance, 
during which General Foch by periodic assaults on the Lys, the 
Somme, on the flanks of Montdidier and Soissons, on the Chateau- 
Thierry sector and southwest of Rheims, captured many important 
positions and kept the enemy in constant anxiety. 

During the great German offensives the Germans had lost 
at least five hundred thousand men, while the casualties of the 



GERMANY'S DYING DESPERATE EFFORT 541 

Allies were barely one hundred and fifty thousand. The Germans 
also were beginning to lose their morale. They were finding that 
however great might be their efforts, however terrible might be 
their losses, they were still being constantly held. Their troops 
were now apparently made of inferior material, and included boys, 
old men and even convicts. 

The system of making attacks by means of shock troops was 
producing the inevitable result. The shock regiments were com- 
posed of selected men, picked here and there, from the regular 
troops. Their selection had naturally weakened the regiments 
from which they were taken. After three months of great offensives 
these shock troops were now in great part destroyed, and the 
German Hnes were being held mainly by the inferior troops which 
had been left. Moreover, in other parts of the world, the allies 
of Germany were being beaten. In Italy and Albania and Mace- 
donia there was danger. 

The Germans prepared for one more effort. On June 18th they 
had made a costly attempt to carry Rheims. On July 15th they 
made their last drive. Ludendorf took ahnost a month for prep- 
aration. He gathered together seventy divisions and great 
masses of munitions, and then drove in from Chateau-Thierry on 
a sixty-mile hne up on the Marne, and then east to the Argonne 
forests. His hne made a sort of semicircle around Rheims and then 
pushed south to the east and west of that fortress. 

Once again he had temporary success. West of Rheims he 
penetrated a distance of five miles, and on the first day, had crossed 
the Marne at Dormans, but was held sharply by the Americans 
east of Chateau-Thierry. On the second day he made further 
gains, but with appalling losses. On the 17th he was still struggling 
on with minor successes but on July 18th the French and Americans 
launched the great counter-offensive from Chateau-Thierry along 
a twenty-five mile front, between the Marne and the Aisne. The 
Germans everyv/here began their retreat and the war tide had 
turned. 

The German attack east of Rheims had been a failure from the 
start. The Alhed forces retired about two miles and then held firm. 
The country there is flat and sandy and gave little shelter to the 
attacking forces which lost terribly. In this sector, too, there were 
many American troops, who behaved with distinguished bravery. 



542 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR 

By this time nearly seven hundred thousand men of 
the American army were on the battle line. They had been 
fighting here and there among the French and Enghsh but on 
June 22d General March made the announcement that five 
divisions of these troops had been transferred to the direct com- 
mand of General Pershing as a nucleus for an American 
army. 

In glancing back at the great German drives which have now 
been described, one is impressed by the terrific character of the 
fighting. This struggle undoubtedly was the greatest exertion of 
military power in the history of the world. Never before had 
such masses of munitions been used; never before had scientific 
knowledge been so drawn on in the service of war. Thousands of 
airplanes were patrolling the air, sometimes scouting, sometimes 
dropping bombs on hostile troops or on hostile stores, sometimes 
flying low, firing their machine guns into the faces of marching 
troops. Thousands upon thousands of great guns were sending 
enormous projectiles, which made great pits wherever they fell. 
Swarms of machine guns were pouring their bullets like water from 
a hose upon the charging soldiers. 

One of the most noticeable artillery developments was the 
long-range gun which off and on during this period was bombard- 
ing Paris. This bombardment began on March 23d, when the 
nearest German line was more than sixty-two miles away. For a 
time the story was regarded as pure fiction, but it was soon estab- 
lished that the great nine-inch shells which were dropping into the 
city every twenty minutes came from the forests of St. Gobain, 
seven miles back of the French trenches near Laon, and about 
seventy-five miles from Paris. This was another of those futile 
bits of f rightfulness in which the Germans reveled. Military advan- 
tage gained by such a gun was almost nothing, and the expense of 
every shot was out of all proportion to the damage inflicted. It 
only roused intense indignation and stirred the Allies to greater 
determination. The first day's casualties in Paris were ten killed 
and fifteen wounded. By the next day one would not have been 
able to tell from the Paris streets that such a bombardment was 
going on at all. The subway and surface cars were running, the 
streets were thronged and traffic was going on as usual. About 
two dozen shells were thrown into Paris every day, mainly in the 



GERMANY'S DYING DESPERATE EFFORT 543 

Montmartre district, in a radius of about a mile. This seemed to 
show that the gun was immovable. 

On March 29th, however, a shell struck the church of St. 
Gervais during the Good Friday service, killing seventy-five persons 
and wounding ninety. Fifty-four of those killed were women. 
The church had been struck at the moment of the Elevation of the 
Host. This outrage aroused special indignation, and Pope Benedict 
sent a protest to Berlin. 

An examination of exploded shells indicated that the new 
German gun was less than nine inches in caHber, and that the pro- 
jectiles, which weighed about two hundred pounds, contained two 
charges, in two chambers connected by a fuse which often exploded 
more than a minute apart. It took three minutes for each shell to 
travel to Paris and it was estimated that such a shell rose to a 
height of twenty miles from the earth. Three of these guns were 
used. One of these guns exploded on March 29th, killing a German 
lieutenant and nine men. The Kaiser was present when the gun 
was first used. It was said by American scientists that seismographs 
in the United States felt the shock of each discharge. On April 9th 
French aviators discovered the location of the new guns, and French 
artillery began to drop enormous shells weighing half a ton each near 
the German monsters. A few days later a French shell fell on the 
barrel of one of these guns and put it out of commission. Great 
craters were made around the other, interfering with its use, and 
toward the end of the period it was only occasionally that the 
remaining gun was fired, and no great damage resulted. 

Another feature of the great German drives was the tremendous 
destruction that accompanied them. Not only were churches, 
public buildings, and private houses throughout almost the whole 
district turned into ruins, but the very ground itself was plowed 
up into craters and shell holes, and the trees smashed into mere 
splinters. During the whole campaign poison gas of various kinds 
was used in immense quantities, and it was constantly necessary 
for the troops to wear gas masks. Sometimes after a town had been 
evacuated by the enemy it was so filled with gas that it was impos- 
sible for victorious troops to enter. One of the fiercest bombard- 
ments was that directed against the Portuguese during the fighting 
along the Lys. The enemy made a special attempt to crush the 
Portuguese contingent which behaved with the utmost gallantry. 



544 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR 

It was the season of the year when the orchards were covered 
v/ith blossoms and the fields with flowers, but the horrors of war 
destroyed the beauty of the spring. In these battles men fought 
until they were completely exhausted and one could see troops 
staggering as they walked and leaning on each other from pure 
exhaustion. 

These were days when wonders were performed by the Medical 
Departments of the Alhed armies, and the work of the Red Cross was 
almost as important as the work of the soldiers. ReHef for the 
wounded had to be undertaken and carried on on a mammoth scale. 
Many of the doctors, nurses, orderlies and ambulance men lost their 
Hves while making efforts to rescue the wounded. 

These were days when the German leaders were filled with the 
pride of victory. They were talking now about a hard German 
peace. On June 17th the German Kaiser celebrated the thirtieth 
anniversary of his accession to the throne. He talked no more of a 
war of self-defense, but declared the war to be the struggle of two 
world views wresthng with each other. ''Either German principles 
of right, freedom, honor and morality must be upheld, or Anglo- 
Saxon principles with their idolatry of Mammon must be vic- 
torious." He sent congratulations to Field Marshal von Hinden- 
burg, to General Ludendorf and to the Crown Prince. Von Hin- 
denburg assured the Kaiser of the unswerving loyalty until death of 
Germany's sons at the front, and concluded "May our old motto 
'Forward with God for King and Fatherland, for Kaiser and 
Empire' result in many years of peace being granted to your 
Majesty after our victorious return home." 

But the terrific attacks which the German commanders directed 
upon the Americans at Chateau-Thierry and at other points upon 
the southern lines show well that they knew that there was another 
danger rising to confront them; that during their great drives a 
milhon and a half American soldiers had been learning the art of 
war, and that every moment of delay meant a new danger. By the 
end of this period the Americans had arrived. 




CHAPTER XLII 

Ch teau-Thierry, Field of Glory 

OWHERE in American history may be found a more 
glorious record than that which crowned with laurel the 
American arms at Chateau-Thierry, Here the American 
Marines and divisions comprising both volunteers and 
selected soldiers, were thrown before the German tide of invasion 
like a huge khaki-colored breakwater. Germany knew that a 
test of its empire had come. To break the wall of American might 
it threw into the van of the attack the Prussian Guard backed hy 
the most formidable troops of the German and Austrian empires. 
The object was to put the fear of the Hun into the hearts of the 
Yankees, to overwhelm them, to drive straight through them as 
the prow of a battleship shears through a heavy sea. If America 
could be defeated, Germany's way to a speedy victory was at hand. 
If America held — well, that way lay disaster. 

And the Americans held. Not only did they hold but they 
counter-attacked with such bloody consequences to the German 
army that Marshal Foch, seizing the psychological moment for his 
carefully prepared counter-offensive, gave the word for a general 
attack. 

With Chateau-Thierry and the Marne as a hinge, the clamp 
of the Allies closed upon the defeated Germans. From Switzer- 
land to the North Sea the drive went forward, operating as huge 
pincers cutting like chilled steel through the Hindenburg and the 
Kriemhild lines. It was the beginning of autocracy's end, the 
end of Der Tag of which Germany had dreamed. 

The matchless Marines and the other American troops suffered 
a loss that staggered America. It was a loss, however, that was 
well worth while. The heroic young Americans who held the 
might of Germany helpless and finally rolled them back defeated 
from the field of battle, and who paid for that victory with their 
lives, made certain the speedy end of the world's bloodiest war. 

The story of the American army's effective operations in France 

545 



546 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR 

from Cantigny to the reduction of the St. Mihiel salient, is one 
long record of victories. To the glory of American arms must be 
recorded the fact that at no time and at no place in the World 
War did the American forces retreat before the German hosts. 

In the latter days of May, 1918, the Allied forces in France 
seemed near defeat. The Germans were steadily driving toward 
Paris. They had swept over the Chemin des Dames and the 
papers from day to day were chronicling wonderful successes. The 
Chemin des Dames had been regarded as impregnable, but the 
Germans passed it apparently without the slightest difficulty. 
They were advancing on a forty-mile front and on May 28th had 
reached the Aisne, with the French and British steadily falhng 
back. The anxiety of the Allies throughout the world was 
indescribable. This was the great German ''Victory Drive" and 
each day registered a new Allied defeat. Newspaper headlines 
were almost despairing. 

On May 29th, however, in quiet type, under great headlines 
announcing a German gain of ten miles in which the Germans had 
taken twenty-five thousand prisoners and crossed two rivers, had 
captured Soissons, and were threatening Rheims, there appeared in 
American papers a quiet Httle despatch from General Pershing. It 
read as follows: 

''This morning in Picardy our troops attacked on a front of 
one and one-fourth miles, advanced our lines, and captured the 
village of Cantigny. We took two hundred prisoners, and inflicted 
on the enemy severe losses in killed and wounded. Our casualties 
were relatively small. Hostile counter-attacks broke down under 
our fire." This was the first American offensive. 

The American troops had now been in Europe almost a year. 
At first but a small force, they had been greeted in Paris and in 
London with tremendous enthusiasm. Up to this point they had 
done little or nothing, but the small force which passed through 
Paris in the summer of 1917 had been growing steadily. By this 
time the American army numbered more than eight hundred 
thousand men. They had been getting ready; in camps far behind 
the lines they had been trained, not only by their own officers, but 
by some of the greatest experts in the French and the British 
armies. Thousands of officers and men who, but a few months 
before, had been busily engaged in civilian pursuits, had now learned 






^1 




s ^ 




^ a . 




c3 Sif 




■" s S 




rs ««-2 




(U a 1^ 








5-Q <D 




•S-^fl 




.■*^ te 




"o ^ o 




-fj 




fl-g aj 




P- 




|lo 








g 


^^1 


9 


03 0) 3 


t 




I-) 


u c3^ 




^ 03 S 


H 

CO 


^»^ 
^M^ 


S 


>.'^-^ 


"53 O W) 

Pi fe fl 


O 


o 


el fl o 


«& 


Is a 


u 1— 1 


■l& 


=0 ^ 




S 


S O (H 


s; 


-o^^od 


s 




■-» 


Sip 


^ 


-'-* ri O 


e 


•q S^ 


►5 


"aSS 


Se 


5? t^ f 


■o 


S '2 fa 
^^1 


t 


1 


03-'^ P- 


■§ 


a fl a> 


-s; 


a. 


^^3 OJ L_i 


^ 


tflT3 


i 




,< 


H^.a 




."3 


&; 


^ O4 



CHATEAU-THIERRY, FIELD OF GLORY 549 

something of the art of war. They had been supplied with a 
splendid equipment, with great guns and with all the modern 
requirem_ents of an up-to-date army. 

For some months, here and there, on the French and British 
hnes, small detachments of American troops fianked on both 
sides by the Allied forces, had been learning the art of war. Plere 
and there they had been under fire. At Cantigny itself they had 
resisted attack. On May 27th General Pershing had reported 
*'In Picardy, after violent artillery preparations, hostile infantry 
detachments succeeded in penetrating our advance positions in 
tv*^o points. Our troops counter-attacked, completely expelling the 
enemy and entering his lines." They had also been fighting that 
day in the Woevre sector where a raiding party had been repulsed. 
There had been other skirmishes, too, in which many Americans 
had Vv^on honors both from Great Britain and France. But the 
attack at Cantigny was the first distinct American advance. 

The Americans penetrated the German positions to the depth 
of nearly a mile. Their artillery completely smothered the Germans, 
and its whirr could be heard for many miles in the rear. Tv/elve 
French tanks supported the American infantry. The sutilleTy 
preparation lasted for one hour, and then the lines of Americans 
went over the top. A strong unit of flame throwers and engineers 
aided the Americans. The American barrage moved forward a 
hundred yards in two minutes and then a hundred yards in four 
minutes. The infantry followed with clock-like precision. Fierce 
hand-to-hand fighting occurred in Cantigny, w^liich contained a 
large tunnel and a number of caves. The Americans hurled hand 
grenades like baseballs into these shelters. 

The attack had been carefully planned and was rehearsed 
by the infantry with the tanks. In every detail it was under 
the direction of the Superior French Command, to v/hom much of 
the credit for its success was due. The news of the American 
success created general satisfaction among the French and English 
troops. The operation, of course, was not one of the very greatest 
importance. It was a sort of an experiment, but coming as it did, 
in the middle of the great German Drive, it was ominous. America 
had arrived. 

On May 30th General Pershing announced the complete repulse 
of further enemy attacks from the new American positions near 



550 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR 

Cantigny. This time he says: "there was considerable shelling 
with gas, but the results obtained were very small. The attempt 
was a complete failure. Our casualties were very light. We have 
consolidated our positions." 

The London Evening News commenting on this fact says: 
''Bravo the young Americans! Nothing in today's battle narrative 
from the front is more exhilarating than the account of their fight 
at Cantigny. It was clean cut from beginning to end, like one of 
their countrymen's short stories, and the short story of Cantigny 
is going to expand into a full-length novel which will write the 
doom of the Kaiser and Kaiserism. Cantigny will one day be 
repeated a thousand fold." 

The Germans, in reporting this fight, avoided mention of the 
fact that the operation had been conducted by American troops. 
This seemed to indicate that they feared the moral effect of such 
an admission in Germany. Up to this time, with the exception of 
small brigades, the American army had been held as a reserve. 
After the Cantigny fight they were hurried to the front. The main 
point to which they were sent at first was Chateau-Thierry, north 
of the Marne, the nearest point to Paris reached by the enemy. 
There, at the very critical point of the great German Drive, they 
not only checked the enemy but, by a dashing attack, threw him 
back. 

This may be said to be the turning point in the whole war. 
It not only stopped the German Drive at this point, but it gave 
new courage to the Allies and took the heart out of the Germans. 
The troops were rushed to the battle front at Thierry, arriving on 
Saturday, June 1st. They entered the battle enthusiastically, 
almost immediately after they had arrived. A despatch from 
Picardy says: "On their way to the battle lines they were cheered 
by the crowds in the villages through which they passed; their 
victorious stand with their gallant French AUies, so soon after 
entering the line, has electrified all France." 

General Pershing's terse account of what happened reads as 
follows: "In the fighting northwest of Chateau-Thierry our troops 
broke up an attempt of the enemy to advance to the south through 
Veuilly Woods, and by a counter-attack drove him back to the north 
of the woods." 

The American troops had gone into the action only an hour or 



CHATEAU-THIERRY, FIELD OF GLORY 551 

so after their arrival on the banks of the River Marne. Scarcely 
had they alighted from their motor trucks when they were ordered 
into Chateau-Thierry with a battaUon of French-Colonial troops. 
The enemy were launching a savage drive, and at first succeeded 
in driving the Americans out of the woods of Veuilly-la-Poterie. 
But the Americans at once counter-attacked, driving their oppo- 
nents from their position, and regaining possession of the woods. 
On the same day the Germans launched an attack of shock troops, 




English Miles 



Where the "Yanks" Fought the Second Battle of the Marne 



attempting to gain a passage across the Marne at Jaulgonne. 
They obtained a footing on the southern bank but another Ameri- 
can counter-attack forced them back across the river. The 
American soldiers were fighting with wonderful spirit, and the 
French papers were filled with praise of their work. As they came 
up to go into the line they were singing, and they charged, cheering. 
On June 6th came a climax of the American fighting. It was 
the attack of the American Marines in the direction of Torcy. 
This gained more than two miles over a two and a half mile front. 
On the next day the advance continued over a front of nearly six 



55^ HISTORY OE THE WORLD WAR 

miles, and during the night the Americans captured Bouresches 
and entered Torcy. 

The fighting at Torcy was characteristically American; the 
Marines advanced yelling like Indians, using bayonet and rifle. 
From Torcy the Marines set forward and took strong ground on 
either side of Belleau Wood. They had reached all the objectives 
and pushed beyond them. The Germans were on the run, and 
surrendering right and left to the Americans. The attack by the 
Marines forestalled an attack by the enemy. German reports 
now noticed the Americans. Their report on June 9th referring 
to this attack, says: ''Americans who attempted to attack north- 
west of Chateau-Thierry were driven back beyond their positions 
of departure with heavy losses and prisoners were captured." 
The Americans had lost heavily, and the hospitals were filled 
with their wounded, but the thorough American organization was 
giving the wounded every care, and the Americans v/ere still 
moving forward. 

On June the 10th, another attack was made on the German 
hues in the Belleau Wood, which penetrated for about two-thirds 
of a mile, leaving the Germans in possession of only the northern 
fringe of the Wood. On June 11th the official statement of the 
French War Office declared: " South of the Ourcq River the Ameri- 
can troops this morning brilliantly captured Belleau Wood, and 
took three hundred prisoners." 

Belleau Wood had been considered an almost impregnable 
position, but the valiant fighting of the American Marines had 
carried them past it. Fighting here was not merely a series of 
exciting engagements, but an important action, which may have 
turned, and very probably did turn, the whole tide of battle. The 
Americans put three German divisions out of business, and caused 
a change in the German plans, by preventing an extending move- 
ment to Meaux, which was the German objective. 

From this time on the confidence shown in all reports from the 
Allies in France was strengthened. They had found that the 
Americans were all that they had hoped for, and they were sure 
now that they could hold on until the full American strength 
could be brought to bear. General Pershing himself was full of 
optimism and his fine example stimulated his troops. From this 
time on all dispatches show that the Americans were more and 



CHATEAU-THIERRY, FIELD OF GLORY 553 

more getting in the game. Repeated German attacks against 
their forces, on the Belleau-Bouresches Hne were repulsed, in 
spite of the fact that crack German divisions, who had been picked 
especially to punish them, had been found on their front. It was 
later found that these divisions had been suddenly ordered to that 
point ''in order to prevent at all costs the Americans being abb 
to achieve success." The German High Command was apparently 
anxious to prevent American success from stimulating the morale 
of the Alhed army. 

During the rest of the summer the Americans took an active 
part in Foch's great offensive which ultimately crushed the German 
army. They were heard from at widely divergent points: in 
Alsace, about Chateau-Thierry, at Montdidier, and in the British 
lines. 

Most of the fighting during June indicated a slow advance at 
Chateau-Thierry. On June 19th the Americans crossed the Marne, 
near that city. But Chateau-Thierry itseK was not captured 
until the middle of July. On June 29th they participated in a 
raid near Montdidier and on July 2d captured Vaux. In the 
week of July 4th news came of American success in the Vosges. 
On July 18th they advanced close to Soissons. On August 3d 
the Americans captured Fismes, and then for nearly a month 
made little actual progress, though bitter fighting went on in the 
country around Fismes and near Soissons. On August 29th after a 
furious battle they captured the plain of Juvigny, north of Soissons. 

In all these battles the Americans were doing their part at 
difficult points, during the great French drive which was clearing 
out the Marne salient. 

On the 12th of September, the first American army, assisted 
by certain French units, and under the direct command of General 
Pershing, launched an attack against the St. Mihiel salient. This 
was the most important operation of the American troops in the 
Great War. It was a complete success. September 12th was the 
fourth anniversary of the establishment of the salient, which 
reached out from the German line in the direction of Verdun. 

The attack was fighting on a grand scale, and that such an 
operation should be intrusted to the American army indicated an 
entirely new phase of America's participation in the war. It was 
preceded by a barrage lasting four hours. The German troops, 



554 



HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR 



though probably suspecting that such an attack was coming, were 
nevertheless surprised. The American attack was on the southern 
leg of the salient along a distance of twelve miles. The French 
attacked on the western side from a front of eight miles. Each 
attack was eminently successful. On the southern front the Ameri- 
cans reached their first objectives at some points an hour ahead of 
schedule time. Thiaucourt was captured early in the drive; 



AMEtelCAN LINE <--^-->»»^S' 
HlNPEHBUtW LINE. •••»• 
OLP BATTL£ LINE 




The Great St. Mihiel. Salient Established iisr 1914 t/as Obliterated 
BY the Americans in September, 1918 

later the Americans gained possession of Nonsard, Pannes, and 
Bouillonville. 

At first the resistance of the Germans, without being tame, 
was not actually stiff, and the doughboys were able to sweep toward 
the second line of any position without difficulty. There, however, 
the Germans began to defend themselves sharply, which delayed, 
but did not stop the American advance. The attack was made 
in two waves and carried the American forces a distance of about 
five miles. 

The next day the attack continued, and General Pershing's 
dispatch stated: ''In the St. Mihiel sector we have achieved further 



CHATEAU-THIERRY, FIELD OF GLORY 555 

successes. The junction of our troops advancing from the south 
of the sector with those advancing from the west has given us 
possession of the whole sahent to points twelve miles northeast of 
St. Mihiel, and has resulted in the capture of many prisoners. 
Forced back by our steady advance the enemy is retiring, and is 
destroying large quantities of material as he goes. The number of 
prisoners counted has risen to 13,300. Our line now includes 
Herbeville, Thillet, Hattonville, St. Benoit, Xammes, Jaulny, 
Thiaucourt and Vieville." 

The sahent was wiped out, and the St. Mihiel front reduced 
from forty to twenty miles. Secretary Newton D. Baker, accom- 
panied by Generals Pershing and Petain, visited St. Mihiel a few 
hours after its capture. They walked through the streets of the 
city, and heard many stories of the long German occupation. 

As the attack proceeded it became more and more evident 
that the German defense had lost heart. Thousands of them 
surrendered, declaring they did not care to fight any more. It 
w^as also noted that a surprisinglj'- large number of officers were 
among those captured. The only serious resistance was to the 
attack south of Fresnes, which was obviously for the purpose of 
protecting the German retreat. 

The first American regiment stationed in the St. Mihiel sector 
was the 370th Infantry, formerly the Eighth Illinois, a Negro 
regiment officered entirely by soldiers of that race. This regiment 
was one of the three that occupied a sector at Verdun when a 
penetration there by the Germans would have been disastrous to 
the Allied cause. 

The St. Mihiel salient had no great mihtary value to the Ger- 
mans, and was probably held by them from a sentimental motive. 
It represented the desperate efforts made by the Crown Prince 
in his early drive against Verdun. Its destruction, however, was 
of great importance to the French. It was not only a removal of 
a menace to the French citizens of Verdun, but it released the French 
armies at that point for active offensive operation. It also hber- 
ated the railway line from Verdun to Nancy, which was of the utmost 
value to General Pershing and the French armies to his left. It 
also later developed that the French command regarded the reduc- 
tion of the St. Mihiel salient as the corner stone of a great encircling 
movement aimed at the German fortress of Metz. The moral 



55Q 



HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR 




m 
(D m 

fJ T-H •?• 

CO .gi; 
Ki g 

W f::!,n 

i-r« 

o "^^ 

S 03 O 

ca > w 

M 1=! a 
O &3| 

SI Mo 

S 'SH 
S 

EeS ?^^ 9 

H m O) > 

a-g.a 

0) O (U 

H.g| 



CHATEAU-THIERRY, FIELD OF GLORY 557 

effect of its reduction was also notable as it was one more sign of 
the weakening of the Germans. 

History usually concerns itself with the deeds of humanity 
in the mass and with the leaders of these masses. It is eminently 
fitting, however, that this history should record the impressions 
made upon the mind of an American soldier by a modern battle. 
The United States Government singled out of all the letters 
received from the front, that written by Major Robert L. Denig, of 
Philadelphia, to his wife. The letter is now part of the archives 
of the War Department, and occupies the highest place of literary 
honor in the records of the Marines. It describes the operation 
against the Germans on the Marne on July 18th, 1918. This was 
the counter-attack led by the Marines which broke the back of 
the German invasion. Major Denig wrote: 

The day before we left for this big push we had a most interestiag 
fight between a fleet of German planes and a French observation balloon, 
right over our heads. We saw five planes circle over our town, then put 
on, what we thought afterwards, a sham fight. One of them, after many 
fancy stunts, headed right for the balloon. They were all painted with 
our colors except one. This one went near the balloon. One kept right 
on. The other four shot the balloon up with incendiary bullets. The 
observers jumped into their parachutes just as the outfit went up in a mass 
of flame. 

The next day we took our positions at various places to wait for 
camions that were to take us somewhere ia France, when or for what 
purpose we did not know. Wass passed me at the head of his company — 
we made a date for a party on our next leave. He was looking fine and 
was as happy as could be. Then Hunt, Keyser and a heap of otheirs went 
by. I have the battalion and Holcomb the regiment. Our turn to 
en-buss did not come until near midnight. 

We at last got under way after a few big "sea bags" had hit nearby. 
Wilmer and I led in a touring car. We went at a good clip and nearly got 
ditched in a couple of new shell holes. Shells were failing fast by now, 
and as the tenth truck went under the bridge a big one landed near with a 
crash, and wounded the two drivers, killed two marines and wounded 
five more. We did not know it at the time, and did not notice anything 
wrong till we came to a crossroad when we found we had only eleven 
cars all told. We found the rest of the convoy after a hunt, but even then 
were not told of the loss, and did not find it out until the next day. 

We were finally, after twelve hours' ride, dumped in a big field and 
after a few hours' rest started our march. It was hot as Hades and we 
had had nothing to eat since the day before. We at last entered a forest; 
troops seemed to converge on it from all points. We marched some six 



558 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR 

miles in the forest, a finer one I have never seen — deer would scamper 
ahead and we could have eaten one raw. At 10 that night without food, 
we lay down in a pouring rain to sleep. Troops of all kinds passed us in 
the night — a shadowy stream, over a half-million men. Some French 
officers told us that they had never seen such concentration since Verdun, 
if then. 

The next day, the 18th of July, we marched ahead through a jam 
of troops, trucks, etc., and came at last to a ration dump where we fell to 
and ate our heads off for the first time in nearly two days. When we 
left there, the men had bread stuck on their bayonets. I lugged a ham. 
All were loaded down. 

Here I passed one of Wass' lieutenants with his hand wounded. He 
was pleased as Punch and told us the drive was on, the first we knew of it. 
I then passed a few men of Hunt's company, bringing prisoners to the 
rear. They had a colonel and his staff. They were well dressed, cleaned 
and polished, but mighty glum looking. 

We finally stopped at the far end of the forest near a dressing station, 
where Holcomb again took command. This station had been a big fine 
stone farm but was now a complete ruin — ^wounded and dead lay all 
about. Joe Murray came by with his head all done up — his helmet had 
saved him. The lines had gone on ahead so we were quite safe. Had a 
fine aero battle right over us. The stunts that those planes did cannot be 
described by me. 

Late in the afternoon we advanced again. Our route lay over an 
open field covered with dead. 

We lay down on a hillside for the night near some captured German 
guns, and until dark I watched the cavalry — some four thousand, come 
up and takfe positions. 

At 3.30 the next morning Sitz woke me up and said we were to attack. 
The regiment was soon under way and we picked our way under cover of 
a gas infested valley to a town where we got our final instructions and 
left our packs. I wished Sumner good luck and parted. 

We formed up in a sunken road on two sides of a valley that was 
perpendicular to the enemy's front; Hughes right, Holcomb left, Sibley 
support. We now began to get a few wounded; one man with ashen 
face came charging to the rear with shell shock. He shook all over, foamed 
at the mouth, could not speak. I put him under a tent, and he acted as 
if he had a fit. 

I heard Overton call to one of his friends to send a certain pin to 
his mother if he should get hit. 

At 8.30 we Jumped off with a line of tanks in the lead. For two 
"kilos" the four lines of Marines were as straight as a die, and their 
advance over the open plain in the bright sunlight was a picture I shall 
never forget. The fire got hotter and hotter, men fell, bullets sung, 
shells whizzed-banged and the dust of battle got thick. Overton was hit 
by a big piece of shell and fell. Afterwards I heard he was hit in the 



CHATEAU-THIERRY, FIELD OF GLORY 559 

heart, so his death was without pain. He was buried that night and the 
pin found. 

A man near me was cut in two. Others when hit would stand, it 
seemed, an hour, then fall in a heap. I yelled to Wilmer that each gun 
in the barrage worked from right to left, then a rabbit ran ahead and I 
watched him wondering if he would get hit. Good rabbit — it took my 
mind off the carnage. Looked for Hughes way over to the right; told 
Wilmer that I had a himdred dollars and be sure to get it. You think all 
kinds of things. 

About sixty Germans jumped out of a trench and tried to surrender, 
but their machine guns opened up, we fired back> they ran and our left 
company after them. That made a gap that had to be fiUed, so Sibley 
advanced one of his to do the job, then a shell lit in a machine-gun crew 
of ours and cleaned it out completely. 

At 10.30 we dug in — the attack just died out. I found a hole or old 
trench and when I was flat on my back I got some protection. Holcomb 
wag next me; Wilmer some way off. We then tried to get reports. Two 
companies we never could get in touch with. Lloyd came in and reported 
he was holding some trenches near a mill with six men. Gates, with his 
trousers blown off, said he had sixteen men of various companies; another 
oflacer on the right reported he had and could see forty men, all told. That, 
with the headquarters, was all we could find out about the battalion of 
nearly 800. Of the twenty company ofiicers who went in, three came out, 
and one, Gates, was slightly wounded. 

From then on to about 8 p. m. life was a chance and mighty uncom- 
fortable. It was hot as a furnace, no water, and they had our range 
to a " T." Three men lying in a shallow trench near me were blown to bits. 

I went to the left of the line and found eight wounded men in a shell 
hole. I went back to Gates' hole and three shells landed near them. We 
thought they were killed, but they were not hit. You could hear men 
calling for help in the wheat fields. Their cries would get weaker and 
weaker and die out. The German planes were thick in the air; they were 
in groups of from three to twenty. They would look us over and then we 
would get a pounding. One of our planes got shot down; he fell about 
a thousand feet, like an arrow, and hit in the field back of us. The tank 
exploded and nothing was left. 

We had a machine gun officer with us and at six a runner came up 
and reported that Simmer was killed. He commanded the machine-gun 
company with us. He was hit early in the fight by a bullet, I hear; loan 
get no details. At the start he remarked: "This looks easy — they do 
not seem to have much art." Hughes' headquarters were all shot up. 
Turner lost a leg. 

Well, we just lay there all through the hot afternoon. 

It was great — a shell would land near by and you would bounce in 
your hole. 

As twilight came, we sent out water parties for the relief of the 



560 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR 

wounded. Then we wondered if we would get relieved. At 9 o'clock we 
got a message congratulating us and saying the Algerians would take over 
at midnight. We then began to collect our wounded. Some had been 
evacuated during the day, but at that, we soon had about twenty on the 
field near us. A man who had been blinded wanted me to hold his hand. 
Another, wounded in the back, wanted his head patted, and so it went; 
one man got up on his hands and knees. I asked him. what he wanted. 
He said, "Look at the full moon," then fell dead. I had him buried, and 
all the rest I could find. All the time bullets sung and we prayed that 
shelling would not start until we had our wounded on top. 

The Algerians came up at midnight and we pushed out. They went 
over at daybreak and got all shot up. We made the relief under German 
flares and the Hght from a burning town. 

We went out as we came, through the guUey and town, the latter by 
now all in ruins. The place was full of gas, so we had to wear our masks. 
We pushed on to the forest and fell down in our tracks and slept all day. 
That afternoon a German plane got a balloon and the observer jumped 
and landed in a high tree. It was some job getting him down. The 
wind came up and we had to dodge falling trees and branches. As it was, 
we lost — two killed and one wounded from that cause. 

That night the Germans shelled us and got three killed and seventeen 
wounded. We moved a bit further back to the crossroad and after burying 
a few Germans, some of whom showed signs of having been wounded before, 
we settled down to a short stay. 

It looked like rain, and so Wihner and I went to an old dressing 
station to salvage some cover. We collected a lot of bloody shelter halves 
and ponchos that had been tied to poles to make stretchers, and were about 
to go, when we stopped to look at a new grave. A rude cross made of 
two slats from a box had written on it: 

"Lester S. Wass, Captain U. S. Marines, July 18, 1918" 

The old crowd at St. Nazaire and Bordeaux, Wass and Sumner killed, 
Baston and Hunt wounded, the latter on the 18th, a clean wound, I hear, 
through the left shoulder. We then moved further to the rear and camped 
for the night. Dunlap came to look us over. His car was driven by a 
sailor who got out to talk to a few of the marines, when one of the latter 
yelled out, "Hey, fellows! Anyone want to see a real live gob, right this 
way." The gob held a regular reception. A carrier pigeon perched on a 
tree with a message. We decided to shoot him. It was then quite dark, so 
the shot missed. I then heard the following as I tried to sleep: "Hell; 
he only turned around;" "Send up a flare;" "Call for a barrage," etc. 
The next day further to the rear still, a Ford was towed by with its front 
wheels on a truck. 

We are now back in a town for some rest and to lick our wounds. 

As I rode down the battalion, where once companies 250 strong used 
to march, now you see fifty men, with a kid second lieutenant in command; 
one company commander is not yet twenty-one. 



CHATEAU-THIERRY, FIELD OF GLORY 561 

After the last attack I cashed in the gold you gave me and sent it 
home along with my back pay. I have no idea of being "bumped off" 
with money on my person, as if you fall into the enemy's hands you are 
first robbed, then buried perhaps, but the first is sure. 

Baston, the heutenant that went to Quantico with father and myself, 
and of whom father took some pictures, was wounded in both legs in the 
Bois de Belleau. He nearly lost his legs, I am told, but is coming out 0. K. 
Hunt was wounded in the last attack, got his wounds fixed up and went 
back again till he had to be sent out. Coffenburg was hit in the hand,- — all 
near him were killed. Talbot was hit twice, but is about again. That 
accounts for all the officers in the company that I brought over. In the 
first fight 103 of the men in that outfit were killed or wounded. The 
second fight must have about cleaned out the old crowd. 

The tanks, as they crushed their way through the wet, gray forest 
looked to me like beasts of the pre-stone age. 

In the afternoon as I lay on my back in a hole that I dug deeper, the 
dark gray German planes with their sinister black crosses, looked like 
Death hovering above. They were for many. Sumner, for one. He was 
always saying, "Denig, let's go ashore!" Then here was Wass, whom I 
usually took dinner with — dead, too. Sumner, Wass, Baston and Hunt — 
the old crowd that stuck together; two dead, one may never be any 
good any more; Hunt, I hope, will be as good as as ever. 

The officers mentioned in Major Denig's letter, with their 
addresses and next of kin, are : 

Lieutenant Colonel Berton W. Sibley; Harriet E. Sibley, 
mother; Essex Junction, Vt. 

First Lieutenant Clifton B. Cates; Mrs. Willis J. Cates, 
mother; Tiptonville, Tenn. 

First Lieutenant Horace Talbot, no next of kin; Woonsocket, 
R. L - 

Captain Arthur H. Turner; Charles S. Turner, father, 188 
West River St., Wilkes-Barre, Pa. 

Captain Bailey Metcalf Coffenberg; Mrs. Elizabeth Coff en- 
berg, 30 Jackson St., Staten Island, N. Y. 

Captain Albert Preston Baston; Mrs. Ora Z. Baston, mother; 
Pleasant Avenue, St. Louis Park, Minn. 

Captain Lester Sherwood Wass; L. A. Wass, father, Glouces- 
ter, Mass. 

Captain Alien M. Sumner; Mrs. Mary M. Sumner, wife; 
1824 S Street, N. W., Washington, D. C. 

Lieutenant Colonel Thomas Holcomb; Mrs. Thomas Hol- 
comb, wife, 1535 New Hampshire Avenue, Washington, D. C. 



562 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR 

Second Lieutenant John Laury Hunt; Etta Newman, sister; 
Gillet, Texas. 

Captain Walter H. Sitz; Emil H. Sitz, father; Davenport, 
Iowa. 

First Lieutenant John W. Overton, son of J. M. Overton, 901 
Stahlman Building, Nashville, Tenn. 

Major Egbert T. Lloyd; Mrs. E. T. Lloyd, wife; 4900 Cedar 
Avenue, Philadelphia, Pa. 

Major Ralph S. Keyser; Charles E. Keyser, father; Thor- 
oughfare, Va. 

Captain Pere Wilmer; Mrs. Alice Emory Wilmer, mother; 
Centreville, Md. 

Lieutenant Colonel John A. Hughes; Mrs. A. J. Hughes, 
wife, care of Rear-Admiral Wilham Parks, Post Office Building, 
Philadelphia, Pa. 

Lieutenant Overton was the famous Yale athlete, the inter- 
collegiate one-mile champion. 



CHAPTER XLIII 
England and France Strike in the North 

UP TO July 18, 1918, the Allied armies in France had been 
steadily on the defensive, but on that date the tide turned. 
General Foch, who had been yielding territory for several 
months in the great German drives, now assumed the 
offensive himself and began the series of great drives which was to 
crush the German power and drive the enemy in defeat headlong 
from France. 

The first of these great blows was the one which began with the 
appearance of the Americans at Chateau-Thierry. The Germans 
had formed a huge saHent whose eastern extremity lay near Rheims, 
and its western extremity west of Soissons. It was Hke^a great 
pocket reaching down in the direction of Paris from those two 
points. Against this saUent the French and Americans had directed 
a tremendous thrust. The Germans resisted with desperation. 
It was the turning point of the war, but they were compelled to 
yield. Town after town was regained by the French and American 
troops, until, by August 5th, the Crown Prince had been driven from 
the Mame to the Vesle, and the saHent obliterated. 

On August 7th General Foch delivered his second blow. During 
the fighting on the Marne it had often been wondered by those who 
were observing the great French general's strategy, why the British 
seemed to make no move. Occasionally there had been reports of 
minor assaults, either on the Lys saHent, far north, or on the Somme 
and Montdidier sectors, lying between. It had not been noticed 
that in these minor assaults the EngHsh had been obtaining positions 
of strategic importance, and that they were steadily getting ready 
for an EngHsh offensive. 

But their time had now come, and on August 7th the armies 
of Sir Douglas Haig began an attack against the armies of Prince 
Rupprecht on the Lys saHent. This was followed, on August 8th, 
by another still greater AUied advance in Picardy, between Albert 
and Montdidier. 

563 



564< HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR 

Both of these attacks met with notable success. On the Lys 
salient the Enghsh penetrated a distance of one thousand yards 
over a four-mile front, and followed up this advance by persistent 
attacks which led to the reoccupation, on August 19th, of Merville, 
and on August 31st, of Mont Kenunel. On this front the Germans 
had weakened their strength by withdrawing troops to aid other 
parts of their front, and the British were constantly taking 
advantage of this weakening. 

The Germans had found this saHent a failure. It had failed 
to attain its objective, the flanking of the Lens line south. They 
therefore were steadily retreating without any intention other than 
to extricate themselves from positions of no value, in the most 
economical manner. The quick operations of the British, however, 
led to the capture of many prisoners and guns. 

The English offensive in Picardy was a more serious matter, 
and from some points of view was the greatest offensive in the war. 
The Allied front had been prepared for offensive operations by 
minor attacks wliich had secured for the AlHed troops dominating 
positions. The attack was a surprise attack. The Germans were 
expecting local attacks but not a movement of this magnitude. 
The surprise was increased because it was made through a heavy 
mist which prevented observation. It was preceded by tremendous 
artillery fire which lasted for four minutes, and which was followed 
by the charge of infantry and tanks. The German artillery hardly 
replied at all, and only the resistance of a few rifles and machine 
guns fired vaguely through the fog met the charging troops. 

The attack was on a twenty-five-mile front and on the first 
day gained seven miles, captured seven thousand men and a hundred 
guns. On the following day there was an advance of about five 
miles and seventeen thousand more prisoners were captured. 

The Germans were now retiring in great haste, blowing up 
ammunition dumps and abandoning an enormous quantity of 
stores of all kinds. The English were using cavalry and airplanes, 
which were flying low over the field and throwing the German troops 
into confusion. Over three hundred guns, including many of 
heavy cafiber, were captured. The ground had been plowed up by 
shells and thousands of bodies of men and horses were found lying 
where they fell. A feature of the attack was the swift whippet 
tanks which advanced far ahead of the infantry lines. 



o o q 
p £ 

H C! CO ►?• 



p g fB 
DO "T^tB 

o t^o 



CD **^ 



CD 

2,3 S^ 

13' 



CD 



p O' 

'^S, 



O p « 

05-2: 
CJ'crcD 

2 CD &. 

CD CLP 
p O '^ 
CTCD p 

B o &• 

CD '-^H^. 
rt-'^- p 

» CD CD 

">^ fi, 
^ ^^ 

s» i S 



i 





C! O 

o c 

TO Ti 
e3 3 



-u o 



o3_C 

75 >> 



2 

o 

W o 



CO 

9 



u a: 

-^ a 

^ en nj 

'^ •■-• 03 

r \ CO Qi 
<^§^ 



o 



ENGLAND AND FRANCE STRIKE 567 

In the French official report occurred the following statement : 

''The brilHant operation which we, in concert with British 
troops, executed yesterday has been a surprise for the enemy. 
As occurred in the offensive of July 18th the soldiers of General 
Debeney have captured enemy soldiers engaged in the peaceful 
pursuit of harvesting the fields behind the German fines." 

By August 10th the Germans had fallen back to a fine running 
through Chaulnes and Roye. Montdidier had been captured, and 
eleven German divisions had been smashed. By August 12th the 
number of prisoners was 40,000, and by the 18th the Alfied front 
was almost in the same fine as it was in the summer of 1916, before 
the battle of the Somme. 

The next step was to capture Bapaume and Peronne. The 
French, on August 19th, captured the Lassigny Massif, and con- 
tinued to press on their attack. Noyon feU on the 29th, Roye on 
the 27th, Chaulnes on the 29th. Further north the British had 
captured Albert, and on the 29th occupied^Bapaume. On Septem- 
ber 1st they took Peronne with two thousand prisoners. 

The advance still continued, and the German weakness was 
becoming more and more apparent. On September 6th the whole 
Allied fine swept forward, with an average penetration of eight 
miles. Chauny was captured and the fortress of Ham. On 
September 17th the British were close to St. Quentin and the 
French in their own old intrenchments before La F^re. On 
September 18th a surprise advance over a twenty-two-mile front 
crossed the Hindenburg fine at two points north of St. Quentin, 
Villeret and from Pontru to Hollom. 

The first and third British armies, a fittle further to the north, 
were moving toward Cambrai and Douai, threatening not only 
them, but to get in the rear of Lens. This force proceeded up the 
Albert-Bapaume highway, and on August 27th captured a consid- 
erable portion of the Hindenburg fine. On the 30th they reached 
Bullecourt and on September 2d crossed the Drocourt-Queant 
fine on a six-mile front. This was the famous switch fine, meant to 
supplement the Hindenburg fine and its capture meant the complete 
overthrow of the German intrenched positions at this point. 

The Germans retreated hastily to the Canal du Nord, and on 
September 3d Queant was captured by an advance on a twenty- 
mile front, along with ten thousand prisoners. The Allied forces 



568 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR 




ENGLAND AND FRANCE STRIKE 569 

were moving steadily forward. On September 18th the British 
reached the defenses of Cambrai and were encirchng the city of 
St. Quentin. On October 3d the advance upon Cambrai forced the 
Germans to evacuate the Lens coal fields, and on October 9th 
another advance over a thirty-mile front enabled the Allies to 
occupy Cambrai and St. Quentin. On the 11th they had reached 
the suburbs of Douai. By this time the whole of the Picardy 
sahent had been wiped out. 

The preceding summary of this great movement gives little 
idea of the tremendous struggle which had gone on during these 
two critical months, and hardly does more than suggest the tre- 
mendous importance of the British operations. The Hindenburg 
Hne was hke a great fortification, and for more than a year had 
been regarded as impregnable. At BuUecourt there were two 
main lines. One hundred and twenty-five yards in front of the 
first Hne was a belt of wire twenty-five feet broad, so thick that it 
could not be seen through. The hne itself contained double 
machine-gun emplacements of ferro-concrete, one hundred and 
twenty-five yards apart, with lesser emplacements between them. 
More belts of wire protected the support Hne. Here a continuous 
tunnel had been constructed at a depth of over forty feet. Every 
thirty-five yards there were exits with flights of forty-five steps. 
The tunnels were roofed and fined and bottomed with heavy timber, 
and numerous rooms branched off. They were Hghted by electricity. 
Large nine-inch trench mortars stood at the traverses and strong 
machine-gun positions covered the line from behind. 

The Hindenburg Hne was reaUy only one of a series of twenty 
lines, each connected with the others by communicating trenches. 
The main fines were soHd concrete, separated by an unending vista 
of wire entanglements. At points this barrier barbed wire extended 
in soHd formation for ten miles. This tremendous system of 
defenses was originally called by the Germans the Siegfried line, 
and in the spring of 1917 they found it wise, at points where a 
strong offensive was expected, to fall back to it for protection. 
It had been their hope that it would prove an impassable barrier 
tb the AlHed troops, but now it had been broken, and the moral 
effect of the British success was even greater than the material. 

One of the most noticeable results of the British advance had 
been the capture of Lens. It had been captured without a fight, 



570 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR 

because of the British threat upon its rear, but its capture was of 
tremendous importance. Lens had been the scene of bitter fighting 
in the latter part of August, 1917, when the Canadians had specially 
distinguished themselves. This city had been heavily fortified by 
the Germans who had recognized its importance as being the 
center of the great Lens coal fields, and they had never given it up. 
It had sometimes been described as the strongest single position 
that had ever confronted the AlHes on the western front. It had 
been made a sort of citadel of reinforced concrete. Even the 
courage and power of the Canadians had only given them possession 
of some of its suburbs. Between these suburbs and the concrete 
citadel were the coal pits, with their fathomless depths of ages and 
the mysteries of kultural strategy. The struggle became a 
succession of avalanches of gas, burning oil, rifle and machine-gun 
fire. Both sides lost terrifically, but the Germans had held the 
town. Now it was given up without a blow and its great coal 
fields were once more in possession of the French. Before retreat- 
ing the Germans showed their usual destructive energy and the 
mines were found flooded as a result of consistent and scientific 
use of dynamite. _,' 

The recapture of Lens was cheering news in Paris. Not the 
least of the many sufferings of the French during the last two 
years of the war was that which came from the scarcity of coal. 
Indeed, more than once during those two winters coal could not 
be obtained at any price. These periods unfortunately came in 
the latter part of the winter, and it happened they were unusual 
periods of intense cold. Thousands of people stayed in bed all day 
in order to keep warm. The capture of Lens, therefore, had been 
anxiously desired. Nearly the whole of the French coal supply 
had come from Lens and the adjacent Bethune coal fields. The 
Bethune field, although steadily working, had never produced 
enough coal for even the pressing necessities of the French munition 
works. ^ " 

The news that Bapaume had fallen on August 29th brought 
back, especially to the British, memories not only of the previous 
year and of the great forward movement which, on March 17th, 
had swept them over Bapaume and Peronne, but also bitter memo- 
ries of the retreat in the previous March, which had carried them 
back under the overwhelming German pressure. The capture 



ENGLAND AND FRANCE STRIKE 571 

therefore was balm to their spirits, and an English correspondent, 
Mr. PhiUp Gibbs, who had accompanied the British on their previous 
advance, found officers and men full of laughter and full of 
memories. 

On all sides were the battle-fields of 1916 and 1917; Mametz 
Wood, Belleville Wood, Usna Hill, Ginchy, Morval, Guillemont. 
The fields were covered with battle debris, and yet to the Enghsh 
it was sacred ground from the graves of the men who fell there. 
Those graves still remained. The British shell fire had not touched 
them, but as the English advanced there were many bodies of 
gray-clad men on the roads and fields, and dead horses, and a 
Utter of barbed wire, and deep shelters dug under banks, and shell 
craters, and helmets, gas masks, and rifles thrown here and there 
by the enemy as they fled. Now it was the Germans that were 
fleeing, and fleeing hopelessly, sullen, bitter at their officers, 
impatient of discipline. 

One of the great differences between the attacks of the Allies in 
their last year of the war and those of preceding years, was the 
increased use and the improved character of the tanks. The tanks 
were a development of the war. Before the war, however, the 
development of the caterpillar tractor had suggested to a few far- 
sighted people the possibihty of evolving from this invention a 
machine capable of offensive use over rough country in close 
warfare. Experiments were made in behalf of the Enghsh War 
Office for some time without practical results. 

At last, after these experiments had resulted in various failures, 
a type of tractor was finally designed which produced satisfactory 
results. It was a caterpillar tractor, with an endless self -laid track, 
over which internal driving wheels could be propelled by the 
engines. It was not 4mtil July, 1916, that the first consignment of 
these new engines of warfare arrived at the secret maneuver ground. 

There were two kinds. One called the male was armed with 
two Hotchkiss quick-fire guns, as well as with an armament of 
machine guns. The other type, called the female, was armed only 
with machine guns. The male tank was designed for deahng with 
the concrete emplacements for the German machine guns. The 
other v/as more suitable for deahng with machine-gun personnel 
and riflemen. Some time was taken in training men to use these 
tanks, for the crew of a tank must sujffer a great deal of hardship; 



572 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR 

on account of the noise of the engine every command had to be 
made by signs, and the motion of the tank being like that of a ship 
on a heavy sea, was hkely to produce seasickness. 

The tanks were painted with weird colors for the purpose of 
concealment, and when they first appeared caused a great deal of 
wonder and amusement. They were first used in battle on Septem- 
ber 15, 1916, in a continuation of the battle of the Somme, and 
proved a great surprise to the Germans. The Germans directed 
all available rifle and machine-gun fire upon them without success. 
A correspondent narrates that : ''As the 'Creme de Menthe' moved 
on its way, the bullets fell from its sides harmlessly. It advanced 
upon a broken wall, leaned up against it heavily, until it fell with 
a crash of bricks, and then rose on to the bricks and passed over 
them and walked straight into the midst of factory ruins." They 
were an immense success and had come to stay. 



CHAPTER XLIV 

Belgium's Gallant Effort 

FOR more than four years Belgium suffered under the iron 
heel of the German invaders. One Httle comer in the far 
west was occupied by her gallant army, fighting with the 
utmost courage and a patriotism which has won the admira- 
tion of the world under its great King Albert, whose heroic leader- 
ship had turned the Uttle commercial nation into a nation of heroes. 
Conditions of life in the Belgian cities were almost intolerable. 
The great Belgian Relief Commission, under the direction of Mr. 
Hoover, had kept the people from starvation, but it could not 
secure them their rights. They lived in the midst of brutaUty and 
injustice. 

On Belgian Independence Day at London, Arthur J. Balfour, 
the British Foreign Minister, made an address in which he com- 
mented upon the German treatment of Belgium. In the course 
of his address he said: "Bitter must be the thought in every Belgian 
heart of what Belgians in Belgium are now suffering. Let them 
however, take coin-age. Let their spirits rise in a mood of profound 
cheerfulness, for these dark days are not going to last forever, 
and when they come to a conclusion, when again peace dawns 
upon this much tormented and cruelly tried world, when Belgium 
is again free and prosperous, then Belgians, whether they have 
spent these unhappy years in exile, or, an even harder fate, have 
spent them in their own country, they will be able to look back 
upon this time of cruel and unexampled trial, and they will say to 
themselves, to their children and to their descendants, that Belgium, 
though her existence as a political entity is less than a century, 
has within that period shown an example of courage, constancy 
and virtue to mankind for which all the world should be grateful." 
The English Foreign Minister was perhaps not prophesying. 
He knew something of what was coming. The Great Offensive 
which was to free Belgium of her German oppressor was already 
imder way. The first move, however, was not upon land, but 

573 



574 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR 

upon the sea. In the autumn of 1914 the Httle Belgian port of 
Zeebrugge, with the neighboring port of Ostend, was captured 
by the Germans. The Germans, who had ah-eady seized the ship- 
building plants at Antwerp, then began to build submarines, and 
sent them down the canals through Bruges to Zeebrugge and 
Ostend. From these ports they proceeded to attack the English 
commerce. 

In the spring of 1918 submarine attacks on EligUsh shipping 
were so serious that England was using every possible effort to 
destroy these piratical craft, and it was determined to make an 
attempt to block the entrances to the canals at Zeebrugge and at 
Ostend, by sinking old ships in the channels. 
[ The expedition took place during the night of April 22d, 
under the command of Vice-Admiral Sir Roger Keyes. Six obsolete 
British cruisers took part in the expedition. These were the Bril- 
liant, Iphigenia, Sirius, Intrepid, Thetis and Vindictive. The 
Vindictive carried storming parties to destroy the stone mole at 
Zeebrugge; the remaining five cruisers were filled with concrete, 
and it was intended that they should be sunk in the entrances of 
the two ports. A large force of monitors and small fast craft 
accompanied the expedition. An observer thus describes the 
heroic exploit: 

The night was overcast and there was a drifting haze. Down 
the coast a ,great searchhght swung its beam to and fro in the 
small wind and short sea. From the Vindictive's bridge, as she 
headed in toward the mole, there was scarcely a ghmmer of light 
to be seen shoreward. Ahead as she drove through the water 
rolled the smoke screen, her cloak of invisibility, wrapped about 
her by small craft. This was the device of Wing-Commander 
Brock, without which, acknowledged the Admiral in command, 
the operation could not have been conducted. A northeast wind 
moved the volume of it shoreward ahead of the ships. Beyond it 
was the distant town, its defenders unsuspicious. 

It was not until the Vindictive, with bluejackets and marines 
standing ready for landing, was close upon the mole, that the wind 
lulled and came away again from the southeast, sweeping back 
the smoke screen and lajdng her bare to eyes that looked seav^^ard. 
There was a moment inmaediately afterv/ard when it seemed to 
those on the ships as if the dim harbor exploded into light. A 



BELGIUM'S GALLANT EFFORT 575 

star shell soared aloft, then a score of star shells. Wavering beams 
of the searchhghts swung around and settled into a glare. A wild 
fire of gun flashes leaped against the sky; strings of luminous 
green beads shot aloft, hung and sank. The darlaiess of the night 
was supplemented by a nightmare daylight of battle-fired guns, 
and machine guns along the mole. The batteries ashore woke 
to life. 

It was in a gale of shelling that the Vindictive laid her nose 
against the thirty-foot-high concrete side of the mole, let go her 
anchor, and signaled to the Daffodil to shove her stern in. The 
Iris went ahead and endeavored to get alongside likewise. 

The fire was intense while the ships plunged and rolled beside 
the^mole in the seas, the Vindictive, with her greater draft, jarring 
against the foundations of the mole with every lunge. They were 
swept diagonally by machine-gun fire from both ends of the mole 
and by the heavy batteries on shore. Captain Carpenter conned 
the Vindictive from the open bridge until her stern was laid in, 
when he took up his position in the flame thrower hut on the port 
side. It is marvelous that any occupant should have survived a 
minute in this hut, so riddled and shattered was it. 

The officer of the Iris, which was in trouble ahead of the 
Vindictive, described Captain Carpenter as handling her like a 
picket boat. The Vindictive was fitted along her port side with a 
high, false deck, from which ran eighteen brows, or gangways, by 
which the storming and demolition parties were to land. The 
men gathered in readiness on the main lower decks, while Colonel 
Elliott, v/ho was to lead the marines, waited on the false deck just 
abaft the bridge. Captain Hallahan, who commanded the blue- 
jackets, was amidships. The word for the assault had not yet 
been given when both leaders were killed. 

The mere landing on the mole was a perilous business. It 
involved a passage across the crashing and splintering gangways, 
a di'op over the parapet into the field of fire of the German machine- 
guns which swept its length, and a further drop of some sixteen 
feet to the surface of the mole itself. Many were killed and more 
wounded as they crowded up the gangways, but nothing hindered 
the orderly and speedy landing by every gangway. The lower 
deck was a shambles, as the commander made the round of the 
ship, yet the wounded and djdng raised themselves to cheer as 
he made his tour. 



576 



HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR 



The Iris had trouble of her own. Her first attempts to make 
fast to the mole ahead of the Vindictive failed, as her grapnels 
were not large enough to span the parapet. Two officers, Lieu- 
tenant-Commander Bradford, and Lieutenant Hawkins, climbed 
ashore and sat astride the parapet trying to make the grapnels 



^i^A 



FosiTKmor 

COKCRXTR IMUBI 




Zeebrtjgge Harbor, Blocked by British 

fast, till each was killed, and fell down between the ship and the 
wall. Commander Valentine Gibbs had both legs shot away, 
and died next morning. Lieutenant Spencer though wounded, 
took command and refused to be relieved. -;' ^ 

The Iris was obliged at last to change her position and fall 
in astern of the Vindictive, which suffered very heavily from fire. 



BELGIUM'S^GALLANT EFFORT, 577 

Her total casualties were eight officers and sixty-nine men killed, 
and three officers and 103 men wounded. 

The storming parties upon the mole met with no resistance 
from the Germans other than an intense and unremitting fire. 
One after another buildings burst into flames, or split and crumbled 
as dynamite went off. A bombing party working up toward the 
mole in search of the enemy destroyed several machine gun emplace- 
ments but not a single prisoner awarded them. It appears that 
upon the approach of the ships and with the opening of fire the 
enemy simply retired and contented themselves with bringing 
machine guns to the short end of the mole. 

The object of the fighting on the mole was in large part to 
divert the enemy's attention while the work of blocking the canals 
was being accomplished. 

Of this operation the official narrative says: "The Thetis 
came first steaming into a tornado of shells from great batteries 
ashore. All her crew save a remnant who remained to steam her 
in and sink her, already had been taken off her by a ubiquitous 
motor launch. The remnant spared hands enough to keep her 
four guns going. It was hers to show the road to the Intrepid 
and Iphigenia which followed. She cleared a string of armed 
barges, which defends the channel from the tip of the mole, but 
had the ill-fortune to foul one of her propellers upon a net defense 
which flanks it on the shore side. The propeller gathered in the 
net and it rendered her practically unmanageable. Shore batteries 
found her and pounded her unremittingly. She bumped into the 
bank, edged off and found herself in the channel again, still some 
hundreds of yards from the mouth of the canal in practically a 
sinking condition. As she lay she signaled invaluable directions 
to others, and her commander blew charges and sank it. Motor 
launches took off her crew. The Intrepid, smoking Uke a volcano, 
and with all her guns blazing, followed. Her motor launch had 
failed to get alongside, outside the harbor, and she had men enough 
for anything. Straight into the canal she steered, her smoke 
blowing back from her into the Iphigenia's eyes so that the latter 
was blinded, and going a little wild, ran into the dredger, with her 
barge moored beside it, which lay at the western arm of the canal. 
She was not clear though, and entered the canal, pushing the barge 
before her. 



578 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR 

"It was then that a shell hit the steam connections of her 
whistle and the escape of steam which followed drove off some of 
the smoke, and let her see what she was doing. Lieutenant Carter, 
commanding the Intrepid, placed the nose of his ship neatly on 
the mud of the western bank, ordered his crew away, and blew 
up his ship by switches in the chart room. Lieutenant Leake, 
commanding the Iphigenia, beached her according to arrangement 
on the eastern side, blew her up, saw her drop nicely across the 
canal, and left her with her engines still going to hold her in posi- 
tion till she should have bedded well down on the bottom. Accord- 
ing to the latest reports from air observation the two old ships, 
with their holds full of concrete, are lying across the canal in a 
V-position, and it is probable that the work they set out to do has 
been accompUshed and that the canal is effectively blocked." 

At Ostend an attempt was also made to block the canal on 
the same night, but it was unsuccessful owing to a shift of wind 
which blew away the smoke screen behind which the British craft 
were acting, and enabled the German gun fire to destroy the flares 
which had been lit to mark the entrance to the harbor. The cruisers 
tried to act by guess work, and one of the block ships was sunk, 
but it was not in a position to obstruct the canal. 

On May 9th another attempt was made, and the Vindictive, 
filled with concrete was sunk in the Ostend channel. 

This daring exploit of the English fleet, though it had destroyed 
the value of Zeebrugge and Ostend as submarine bases, had left 
the Germans in possession. In September, however. General 
Foch determined that the time had come to throw his armies 
against the German forces in the distracted little country. He 
planned two widely separated thrusts. On the south he sent 
Pershing against the Germans between the Argonne and the Meuse. 
They made rapid progress, capturing Montfaucon, Varennes and 
driving on until they had destroyed the German control of the 
Paris-Chalons- Verdun Railroad. 

This was a serious blow to the Germans, for a further push 
northward would cut the vital lateral railway connecting the 
German armies in Belgium and France with those in Alsace- 
Lorraine. Ludendorf hastened reserves to this front, and the 
American operation was slowed down. Meanwhile at the other 



BELGIUM'S GALLANT EFFORT ' 579 

end of the line tke Belgians, with General Plumer's Second British 
Army, suddenly attacked on a front which extended all the way 
from the canal at Dixmude to the Lys, swept the Germans out of 
all the famous fighting ground of the Ypres salient, pushed across 
the Passchendaele Ridge and down into the Flanders plain below. 

The situation of the Germans in the Lille regions of the south 
and also along the Belgian coast became at once dangerous. Once 
more Ludendorf was compelled to send reserves, and this thrust 
began to slow up but it was not checked permanently, and the 
Belgian armies were to move on. While this advance was being 
conducted the British fleet were bombarding the coastal defenses. 
The Belgian army, fighting with the utmost spirit under command 
of King Albert, made a penetration of five miles and captured 
four thousand prisoners and an immense amount of supplies. 

On September 30th they captured the city of Roulers. For 
:ten days there was a consolidation of position by the Allies, but 
on October 14th they made a furious attack in the general direc- 
^tion of Ghent and Courtrai. Thousands of prisoners and several 
/complete batteries of guns were captured. In tliis attack British, 
Belgian and French troops took part, and the troops of the three 
nations went over the top without preliminary bombardment, 
taking the enemy by surprise. 

On October 15th the news from Flanders showed that the 
'victory was growing in extent, the Alhed armies were advancing 
on a front of about twenty-five miles, and in some places had 
penetrated the enemy's positions six or seven miles. The Belgians 
had captured seven thousand prisoners and the British and French 
about four thousand. In French Flanders the British advanced 
to a point about three miles west of Lille. 

I The battle was carried on in a heavy rain which turned the 
battle-fields into seas of mud; while this hampered the AlUed 
troops it hindered even more the Germans in trying to move away 
their material through the mired ground of the Flanders Lowland. 

On the next day dispatches indicated that a retreat on a 
tremendous scale in northern Belgium was under way. The 
Germans were retreating so fast that the AUies lost touch with 
the enemy. The gallant little Belgian army, assisted by crack 
British and French troops, had driven the despoilers of its country 
from a large section which the Germans had occupied since the 



580 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR 

early days of the war, and had gained positions of such importance 
as to make it probable that the Germans would have to abandon 
the entire coast of Belgium. 

Moreover, on the south, the city of LiUe, with the great mining 
and manufacturing districts around it, was being left in a salient 
which was growing deeper every hour and which the enemy could 
not hope to hold. At certain points the resistance of the Germans 
was extraordinarily fierce. This was especially true in the region 
of Thouret. The battle here was from street to street and from 
house to house. The Germans had placed machine-guns in the 
windows of houses and cellars and fired murderous streams of 
bullets into the advancing Belgians but were unable to stop them. 

The Belgians fought with a dogged determination such as 
only troops fighting to regain their outraged country could display. 
Nothing could stop them. At other points, especially in the 
northern part of the battle area, the Germans surrendered freely. 
Many civilians were rescued from the towns and districts cap- 
tured, and little processions of these were straggHng rearward 
out of range of the guns, and out of the way of the fighting troops. 
At times fiberated Belgian women could see their sons, brothers 
or husbands going forward into battle. On October 17th the 
German retreat in Flanders became a rout. The enemy were 
fleeing rapidly on their entire front. The British entered Lille. 

The Germans fled from Ostend and British naval forces were 
landed there. The Belgian infantry were sweeping up the coast, 
and Belgian patrols entered Bruges. In the afternoon of the day 
King Albert of Belgium, and Queen Elizabeth entered Ostend. 
The splendid fighting of the Belgian troops and their magnificent 
victory was now attracting universal attention. It was one of the 
revelations of the war. They were bearing the giant's share of 
the work of the Allied armies in their own country, and had already 
liberated territory which more than doubled the area of that part 
of Belgium which had been in their possession. 

With the Belgian coast cleared of invaders it became open to 
British transports which would afford relief to the whole Allied 
armies from the resultant decrease in the congestion of the channel 
ports. On , October 19th the progress continued. Zeebrugge 
was occupied by the Allies, the last Belgian port remaining in 
German hands. 



BELGIUM'S GALLANT EFFORT 581 

The Belgian advance continued along the whole line. King 
Albert entered Bruges. Day after day the advance continued. 
The reception of the King and Queen of Belgium in the recovered 
towns was something to remember. In Bruges they rode in amid 
the tumultuous cheering of the frenzied population. On the central 
square they were received by the burgomaster with an escort of a 
soUtary gendarme, who had refused to give up his uniform and old- 
fashioned rifle to the enemy; though fined and imprisoned he had 
kept their hiding place secret. As he stood there alone with fixed 
bayonet the King and the Queen shook him by the hand and con- 
gratulated him. Greatly moved, he stammered, "It is too great 
an honor, too great an honor." 

And with all this happiness came the happiness arising from 
the return of the soldiers to the homes from which they had been 
absent so long, the reunions of husband and wife, of parents and 
children. Belgium was now to reap the reward for her heroism. 



CHAPTER XLV 
Italy's Terrific Drive 

FOR many months after the great Italian stand on the Piave 
there was inactivity on both fronts in Italy. The Italians 
had been reinforced by troops from France and Great 
Britain and their own army was now larger than it had 
been at any other time. On June 15th, about the time when the 
Germans were being driven back on the Marne and the Oise, the 
Austrians, urged to action by the Germans, suddenly undertook 
a great offensive on a front from the Asiago Plateau to the sea, a 
distance of ninety-seven miles. 

From the very start it was plain that the ItaUans were resisting 
magnificently. The offensive was not unexpected, either in time 
or locahty, and had been openly discussed in the Italian press. 
The ItaUans therefore were not taken by surprise, and moreover 
since the disaster of Caparetto the ItaHans had learned by a patient 
campaign of education what they were fighting for. 
i On the second day of the battle the Austrian troops made a 
desperate effort to break through the Itahan lines, particularly in 
the eastern sector of the Asiago Plateau, and crossed the Piave 
River at two places. They also attacked the French positions 
between Osteria di Monfenera and Maranzine, but were driven 
back with heavy loss. At every point where the Austrians were 
able to advance the Itahans initiated vigorous counter-attacks. 
The order to Italy's army was, ^'Plold at any cost." 

On the third day of the battle the Austrian offensive was 
being strongly checked. They had estabUshed three bridgeheads 
on the Piave, but had not been able to advance. The most notable 
of these crossings was that in the Montello sector. Montello is of 
particular importance, because it is the hinge between the mountains 
and the Piave sectors of the Itahan front. If it could be held the 
Austrians would be in a position to dominate from the flank and 
rear all the Italian positions defending the Hne of the Piave in the 
dead flat plain to the south. 

582 




STORMING THE MOLE AT ZEEBRUGGE 

One of the most brilliant and spectacular feats in naval history was the British 
blocking of the submarine harbor at Zeebrugge. The picture shows one of the detach- 
ments of marines that braved the terrific German defense fire and swarmed up the 
mole that protects the harbor, planting explosives that made a great breach and let 
the tides in. 



ITALY'S TERRIFIC DRIVE 585 

On the Lower Piave the 'A.ustrians had made gains and had 
captured Capo Sile. The Austrians were using a miUion men and 
were using liquid fire and gas bombs, but their every move was 
resisted strongly. Vienna was claiming the capture of 30,000 men, 
but the Italian reports claimed that the Austrian losses were stu- 
pendous. Thousands of dead were heaped before the ItaHan line 
in the mountain sectors, blocking the mule paths and choking the 
defiles. No fewer than nine desperate onslaughts upon Monte 
Grappa, always with fresh reserves, were broken upon Grappa 
heights, with terrific losses. 

On July 19th the dispatches from Rome were emphasizing the 
Italian counter-attacks. Not only were the ItaHans preventing the 
enemy from making further gains, but they were beginning to 
crowd him back at the points where he had crossed the river, and 
were raining bombs and machine-gun bullets upon the Austrian 
troops at the bridgehead. They were also taking the initiative in 
the fighting in the mountain sectors. 

: By June 20th the Austrian defeat was clear. Their forces 
were backed against the flooded Piave, which had carried away 
their bridges and left them to the mercy of the ItaHans. Thousands 
were being killed and other thousands captured. Czecho-Slovak 
troops, it was reported, had joined in the fighting, and had given 
their first tribute of blood to the generous principles of freedom and 
independence for which they were in arms. In the Piave delta the 
ItaHans had regained Capo Sile, which had been captured early in 
the drive, and it was reported that all along the Piave Hne they had 
won complete control of the air, not a single Austrian machine 
being still aloft. The spirits of the Austrian troops had been 
definitely weakened. They were war wearied, and evidence began 
to accumulate that Austria's drive was a "hunger offensive." - 

As the battle continued reports began to arrive of the gallant 
deeds of American airmen, who were helping in the fighting along the 
front. The airmen were assisting in destroying the bridges that 
the Austrians were trying to throw across the river. The Piave 
was now a vast cataract and the bridges which it had not washed 
down were constantly destroyed by the aviators. The Austrians 
on the western bank were finding it difficult to obtain suppHes and 
were resorting to hydroplanes for that purpose. On June 24th the 
Austrian attack had definitely failed and they were fleeing in dis- 



586 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR 

order across the Piave. One hundred and eighty thousand men 
had abeady been lost and forty thousand were hemmed in on the 
western side of the river. The Austrian communications were 
emphasizing the difficulties they were meeting with through the 
heavy rains. 

The victory of the Italians, which was now apparent, was 
received all over Italy with great public rejoicing. Italy had been 
repenting in sackcloth and ashes her defeat of the previous fall. 
Now they had made amends and were showing what the ItaHan 
soldier could really do. In America, and among the Allied Powers, 
there was great enthusiasm, and Secretary of V/ar Baker sent this 
congratulatory message to the ItaUan Minister of War: 

Your Excellency: The people of the United States are watching with 
enthusiasm and admiration the splendid exploits of the great army of 
Italy m. resisting and driving back the enemy forces which recently under- 
took a major offensive on the Italian front. I take great pleasure in 
tendering my own hearty congratulations, and would be most happy to 
have a message of greeting and congratulation transmitted to General 
Diaz and his brave soldiers. 

Newton D. Baker, 
Secretary of War of the United States. 

In announcing to his victorious army the repulse of the 
Austrians General Diaz, the Itahan Commander-in-Chief, said: 
''The enemy who, with furious impetuosity, used all means to 
penetrate our territory has been repulsed at all points. His losses 
are very heavy. His pride is broken. Glory to all commands, all 
soldiers, all sailors." 

On the 26th of June the ItaHan troops, having forced the last 
rear guard of the retreating Austrians to surrender and completely 
occupied the west bank of the Piave, began an offensive on the 
mountain front in the Monte Grappa sector. They gained more 
than 3,000 prisoners, and considerable territory. On the southern 
part of the Piave front they were carrying on a vigorous offensive 
against the Austrian positions within the Piave delta. The 
Austrian troops, at that point, were being prevented from retreat 
by the high water, and suffered terrible losses. On July 6th the 
Italians drove the last of the enemy from the delta. 

The campaign in Italy now languished, until, on October 27th, 
Italy began her last terrible drive. The great Italian offensive 



ITALY'S TERRIFIC DRIVE 587 

was made not only by their own forces and the French and British 
troops, which had assisted them the previous June, but during the 
intervening period a large force of Americans had arrived in Italy. 
On June 27th Secretary Baker had made the announcement that 
General Pershing had been instructed to send into Italy a regi- 
ment that was then in training in France. The regiment thus sent 
was augmented considerably later. The purpose of sending troops 
to Italy, Mr. Baker explained, was rather poUtical than miHtary. 
It was desired to demonstrate again that the AlUed nations and the 
United States were one in their purposes on all fronts, and to extend 
the intercourse between the troops of all the powers at war with 
Germany. 

On the second day of the ItaUan offensive their success 
increased. More than nine thousand Austrians were taken prisoners 
and fifty-one guns were captured. The Piave River had been 
crossed, and the Italians had advanced four miles to its east. 
The attacks in the mountain region were being more bitterly con- 
tested, and counter-attacks had enabled the enemy to regain some 
of their lost positions. 

On October 30th the Italian advance was continuing. The 
Austrian front appeared to be breaking under the heavy blows of 
the Allied troops. Dispatches indicated striking successes, not 
only on the ItaHan front but at the points where the British and the 
French were holding the line. The Americans were being held in 
reserve, but American airplanes were actively participating in the 
work at the front. By this time the last lines of the Austro- 
Hungarian resistance on the central positions along the Piave 
River had been broken, and more than fifteen thousand prisoners 
been taken. The Austrians, however, had been desperately resisting, 
and their artillery fire at many points was very effective, especially 
that which had been directed at the pontoon bridges thrown across 
the Piave. i i 

King Victor Emanuel had been present in person during the 
crossing, and was often under the fire of the Austrian guns. On 
October 30th, 33,000 Austrians had been captured and the Italians 
had reached Vittorio. Americans had now joined in the fighting. 

The Austrian retreat reached the proportion of a rout. They 
were still fighting, especially in the mountain region, but in the 
plains east of the Piave they were in full flight. Taking into 



588 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR 

consideration the numbers of troops in the Austrian lines and their 
apparently plentiful supplies, it began to seem probable that their 
break was due more to poHtical maneuvers than to military force. 
The Austrians at this time were making a great peace drive, and 
the dissatisfaction at home had affected the morale of the troops 
at the front. The conditions in Italy were in close resemblance to 
those in Bulgaria just before Bulgaria appHed for an armistice. 

On the 1st of November the Austrians were completely routed, 
and were streaming in confusion down the valleys of the Alpine 
foothills, and fleeing northward from the Piave. Reports from 
Austria indicated riots at Vienna and Budapest. In Vienna people 
were parading the streets, shouting '^Down with the Hapsburgs!" 
On October 29th, the Austrians asked for an armistice. Their 
announcement read as follows: 

The High Command of the armies, early Tuesday, by means of a 
Parliamentaire, established communication with the Italian army com- 
mand. Every effort is to be made for the avoidance of further useless 
sacrifice of blood, for the cessation of hostilities, and the conclusion of an 
armistice. Toward this step which is animated by the best intentions the 
Italian High Command at first assumed an attitude of unmistakable 
refusal, and it was only on the evening of Wednesday that, in accord with 
the Italian High Command, General Weber, accompanied by a deputation, 
was permitted to cross the fighting liae for preliminary pourparlers. 

General Diaz, the Italian Commander, had referred the 
Austrian request to the Versailles Conference, and had acted in 
accordance with their direction. In proposing the armistice the 
Austrians had also expressed their resolve to bring about peace and 
to evacuate the occupied territory of Italy. This was the beginning 
of the end. 

The northern part of Italy is bounded by the Alps, and between 
those lofty ranges and the deep vaUeys there had been constant 
fighting. In this fighting, both on mountain and in valley, there 
were the most extraordinary deeds of individual heroism, con- 
stantly exhibited. 

The Alpine regiments, known in Italy as the Alpini, were men 
of extraordinary physical powers, accustomed to mountain climbing, 
and filled with courage and patriotism. Owing to the nature of the 
territory in such contests, only a limited number of men could be 
used at one time, and the fighting went on over masses of snow or 



ITALY'S TERRIFIC DRIVE 589 

solid rock. Guns were hauled up precipices and dugouts excavated 
in the rock itself. The Italian troops, clothed in white overalls to 
prevent their being seen, moved with great rapidity from point to 
point, and forced their enemy to keep constantly on the alert. 
In the great ItaHan drive just described the most bitter fighting was 
that which occurred in these mountainous regions. 

The work of the Italian aviators is also worthy of special 
attention. They not only secured entire command of the air, 
but by flying low they often threw into confusion with their machine 
guns the Austrian infantry. Their wonderful work in bringing in 
mihtary information, and in bombing expeditions, was not excelled, 
if it was equaled, by the airmen of any other^country. The 
Italian airplanes themselves were engineering triumphs. The 
inventive genius so notable in these days in Italy found expression 
in their development. Some of their machines were the biggest 
made during the whole war, and the long journeys made by such 
machines deserve special mention. The most interesting feat of this 
kind was performed on August 9th by the famous poet, Captain 
Gabrielle D'Annunzio. Accompanied by eight ItaHan machines, 
he flew to the city of Vienna, a total distance of 620 miles, and 
dropped copies of an AUied manifesto over the city. They crossed 
the Alps in a great wind storm at a height of ten thousand feet, 
and all but one returned safely. The manifesto, which was written 
by D'Annunzio reads as follows: 

People of Vienna, you are fated to know the Italians. We are flying 
over Vienna and could drop tons of bombs. On the contrary we leave a 
salutation and the flag with its colors of liberty. We Italians do not make 
war on children, the aged and women. We make war on your govern- 
ment, which is the enemy of the liberty of nations, — on your blind, wanton, 
cruel government, which gives you neither peace nor bread, and nurtures 
you on hatred and delusions. People of Vienna, you have the reputation 
of being intelligent, why then do you wear the Prussian uniform? Now 
you see the entire world is against you, do you wish to continue the war? 
Keep on, then, but it will be your suicide. What can you hope from 
the victory promised to you by the Prussian generals? Their decisive 
victory is like the bread of the Ukraine, — one dies while awaiting it. 
People of Vienna, think of your dear ones, awake! Long live Italy, 
Liberty and the Entente! 

It was said that copies of this proclamation in Vienna had a 
value of fifty dollars a copy. D'Annunzio's great fame had 



590 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR 

seized upon the popular imagination. His career in the war would 
have been interesting in itself, but when one recognizes that he 
was already a world figure, the greatest modern Itahan dramatist 
and novelist, his life seems almost Hke a fairy story. Before the 
war began he made addresses all over his country, urging Italy's 
participation in the war, and when war was declared, to him, as 
much as to any other man, was due the credit. He entered the 
navy, and has written some fascinating descriptions of his Hfe on 
board ship. Later he joined the airplane corps, and now was 
showering down upon the gaping populace of Vienna appeals to 
rise against its Hapsburg masters. D 'Annunzio was extraordinary 
in his Hterary career. He had been the poet of passion, a writer of 
novels and plays, which, although artistic in the highest degree, 
showed him to be an egotist and a decadent. But long before 
the war he had tired of his erotic productions and had begun to 
write the praises of Nature and of heroes. He had been singing the 
praises of his country. ''La Nave" symboHzes the glory of Venice. 
He had become more wholesome. War was making him not only 
a man but a hero. 

Of course D'Annunzio was not the only great literary man 
who had left the study for the battle-field. ^Eschylus fought at 
Marathon and Salamis; Ariosto put down a rebellion for his prince 
between composition of cantos of Orlando Furioso; Sir PhiHp 
Sydney was scholar, poet and soldier, and many a soldier when 
his wars were over has turned to the labors of the pen. Yet it is 
not without surprise that one sees D'Annunzio join this distin- 
guished company, and one's admiration grows as it becomes plain 
that he was not a mere poseur. He was a poet, but he was a soldier 
too. Not every great poet could drive an airplane to Vienna. 




CHAPTER XLVI 

f Bulgaria Deserts Germany 

URING the year 1916 there was little movement in the 
Balkans. The Allies had settled down at Saloniki and 
intrenched themselves so strongly that their positions 
were practically impregnable. These intrenchments 
were on slopes facing north, heavily wired and with seven miles 
of swamp before them, over which an attacking army would have 
to pass. It was obviously inadvisable to withdraw entirely the 
armies at Saloniki. So long as they were there it was possible at 
any time to make an attack on Bulgaria in case Russia or Roumania 
should need such assistance. And moreover, it was evident that 
it was only the presence of the Saloniki army that kept Greece 
neutral. During the year there were a few fights which were 
Httle more than skirmishes; almost all of the German soldiers 
had been withdrawn, and it was chiefly the Bulgarian army that 
was facing the AlHes. On May 26th Bulgarian forces advanced 
into Greece and occupied Fort Rupel, with the acquiescence of the 
Greek Government. * ■- .-...«-' 

The Greeks were in a difficult position. It was not unnatural 
that King Constantino and the Greek General Staff believed that 
the Allies had small chance of victory. Moreover, they had no 
special ambitions which could be satisfied by a war against the 
Central Powers. On the other hand, Turkey was an hereditary 
enemy, and the big sea coast would put them at the mercy of the 
British navy in case they should join their fortunes to those of 
Austro-Germany. To an impartial observer their poHcy of neu- 
trahty, if not heroic, was at least wise. The Greek Government, 
therefore, did its best to preserve neutrality. The surrender of 
Fort Rupel was not, however, a neutral act and roused in Greece 
a strong popular protest. 

Venizelos, who at all times was strongly friendly to the Allies 
and who was the one great Greek statesman who not only believed 
in their ultimate victory but who saw that the true interests of 

591 



59^ HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR 

Greece were in Anatolia and the Islands of the -^gean, was strongly 
opposed to King Constantine's action. The AlHes showed their 
resentment by a pacific blockade, to prevent the export of coal to 
Greece, with the object of preventing supplies from reaching the 
enemy. This led to a certain amount of excitement and the AlUed 
embassies in Athens were insulted by mobs. The governments, 
therefore, presented an ultimatum commanding the demobiUzation 
of the Greek army, the appointment of a neutral Ministry, and 
the calhng of a new election for the Greek Chamber of Deputies, 
as well as the proper punishment of those who were guilty of the 
disorder. 

In substance, the Greeks yielded to the Allied demand, but 
before a new election could be held an attack by the Bulgarians 
on the 17th of August changed the situation. The Bulgarian 
armies entered deep in Greek territory in the eastern provinces 
and captured the city of Kavalla without resistance from the 
armies of Greece. A portion of the Greek army at Kavalla sur- 
rendered and was taken to Germany as "guests" of the German 
Government. 

This action of the Greek army led to a Greek revolution which 
broke out at Saloniki on the 30th of August. The King pursued 
a tortuous poHcy, professing neutrality and yet constantly bringing 
himself under suspicion. The Revolutionists organized an army 
and finally M. Venizelos, after strong efforts to induce the King 
to act, became the head of the Provisional Government of the 
Revolutionists. The AlUes pursued a pohcy almost as tortuous 
as that of King Constantine. They could not agree among them- 
selves as to the proper policy, and took no decided course. King 
Constantuie apparently had the support of Russia and of Italy. 

Meantime the fighting against Bulgaria was still proceeding. 
The main force of the AlHes was directed against the city of 
Monastir, which, after considerable fighting, was captured on 
November 19th. This gave the Serbians possession of an important 
point in their own country and naturally proved a great stimulus 
to the Serbian armies. 

From that time on, and during the year 1917, little was done. 
Minor offensives were undertaken, some of which, Hke the Allied 
attack upon Doiran, deserve mention, but on the whole the fight- 
ing was a stalemate. Meanwhile the action of the Greek Govern- 



BULGARIA DESERTS GERMANY 593 

ment had become so unsatisfactory that it was finally determined 
to demand the abdication of King Constantine, and on June 11th 
he found himself compelled to yield. In his proclamation he said: 

Obeying necessity of fulfilling my duty toward Greece, I am departing 
from my beloved country accompanied by the heir to the crown, and I 
leave my son Alexander on the throne. I beg you to accept my decision 
with cahn. 

Early the next morning the King and his family set sail for 
Italy on his way to Switzerland, where he became another ''King 
in exile." His son Alexander accepted the throne and issued the 
following proclamation: 

At the moment when my august father, making a supreme sacrifice 
to our dear coimtry, entrusted to me the heavy duties of the Hellenic 
throne I express but one single wish — that God, hearing his prayer, will 
protect Greece, that He will permit us to see her again united and power- 
ful. In my grief at being separated in circumstances so critical from 
my well-beloved father I have a single consolation: to carry out his 
sacred mandate which I will endeavor to realize with all my power, follow- 
ing the lines of his brilliant reign, with the help of the people upon whose 
love the Greek dynasty is supported. I am convinced that in obeying 
the wishes of my father the people by their submission will do their part 
in enabling us together to rescue our dear country from the terrible 
situation in which it finds itself. 

The whole country to all appearances received the abdication 
with satisfaction. On June 21st, M. Venizelos came to Athens 
and the Greek Chamber, which was illegally dissolved in 1915, 
was convoked and Venizelos once again became Prime Minister. 
At last he had succeeded, and he proceeded at once to join the 
whole of the Grecian forces to the cause of the Allies. Of all the 
statesmen prominent in the Great War, there was none more wise, 
more consistent or more loyal than the great Greek statesman. 

For more than a year the AUied armies facing Bulgaria remained 
upon the defensive, when, suddenly, on the 16th of September, 
1918, in the midst of the wonderful movements that were forcing 
back the German armies in France, a dispatch was received from 
the Alhed forces in Macedonia. The Serbian army, in co-operation 
with French and EngUsh forces, had attacked the Bulgarian posi- 
tions on a ten-mile front, had stormed those positions and progressed 
more than five miles. On the next day news was received that the 
advance was continuing; that the AUies had occupied an important 



594 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR 

series of ridges, and had pierced the Bulgarian front; that more 
than three thousand prisoners had been captured and twenty-four 
guns. The movement took place about twelve miles east of 
Monastir and the ridge of Sokol, and the town of Gradeshnitsa 
were captured by the Allied troops. 

It soon became evident that one of the most important move- 
ments in the whole war was being carried on. The Bulgarian 
armies were crumbUng, and the German troops sent to aid them 
had been put to flight. The Allied troops had advanced on an 
average of ten miles and were continuing to advance. The Serbs, 
fighting at last near their own homes, were showing their real 
military strength. Four thousand prisoners had been taken, with 
an enormous quantity of war supplies. The Bulgarian positions 
which had yielded so easily were positions which they had been 
fortifying for three years, and had been previously thought to be 
impregnable. 

On September 23d it became evident that the retreat of the 
Bulgarians had turned into a rout. Notwithstanding reinforce- 
ments of Germans and Bulgars rushed down in a frantic effort to 
check them, the Allied armies were advancing on an eighty-five- 
mile front, crushing all resistance. The Italian army, on the west, 
was meeting with equal success, and the news dispatches reported 
that the first Bulgarian army in the region of Prilep had been cut 
off. A dispatch received by the British War Office reported "As 
the result of attacks and continual heavy pressure by British and 
Greek troops, in conjunction with the French and Serbian advance 
farther west, the enemy has evacuated his whole fine from Doiran 
to the west of the Vardar." As it retreated the Bulgarian army 
was burning supphes and destroying ammunition dumps, burning 
railway stations and ravaging the country. 

By this time it was felt throughout the Allied world that the 
Bulgarian defeat would have important pohtical consequences. 
It was remembered that a short time before King Ferdinand had 
paid a visit to Germany, and after long conferences with the German 
War Lord, had hastily returned to Bulgaria. It was recalled that 
there had been many signs of serious disorder in Bulgaria, where 
the Socialist party had been in close touch with the advance parties 
in the Ukrainian Repubhc. It seemed possible that the Bulgarian 
defeats had been brought about by Bulgarian dissension and it 



BULGARIA DESERTS GERMANY 595 

was also evident that Germany was in no position to offer effective 
support to its Bulgarian accomplice. 

As the days passed by the news from this front became more 
and more favorable. At all points the Bulgarian armies were 
retreating in the most disorderly manner, closely pursued by the 
Serbians, French, English, Italians, and Greeks. Bulgarian troops 
were deserting in thousands, and thousands of others were sur- 
rendering without resistance. 

On September 26th it was announced that the Bulgar front 
had disappeared; that the armies had been cut into a number of 
groups and were fleeing before the Allied troops. Town after 
town was being captured, with enormous quantities of stores. 
On Friday, September 27th, it was announced that Bulgaria had 
asked the AlHes for an armistice of forty-eight hours, with a view 
to making peace. 

The situation was now causing intense excitement. The 
Germans tried to minimize the Bulgarian surrender. A dispatch 
from Berlin declared that Premier Malinoff's offer of an armistice 
was made without the support of other members of the Cabinet 
or of King Ferdinand, and that Germany would make a solemn 
protest against it. German newspapers were demanding that 
Mahnoff be dismissed immediately and court-martialed for high 
treason. The Berlin message asserted that the Premier's offer 
had created great dissatisfaction in Bulgaria and that strong 
mihtary measures had been taken to support the Bulgarian front. 
According to statements from Sofia it was added a counter-move- 
ment against the action of the Premier had already been set on 
foot. It was declared in Germany that the Premier's act was the 
result of Germany's refusal to send sufficient reinforcements to 
Bulgaria. Secretary Lansing made the announcement that the 
United States Government had received a proposal for an armistice. 

It appeared that Bulgaria had been maneuvering toward peace 
for some time. The Bulgarians had foreseen their inability to meet 
the expected AlHed attack, and had made every effort to obtain 
German reinforcements. Moreover, they were highly dissatisfied 
with the treatment they had received from Germany in connection 
with Bulgaria's dispute with Turkey as to territorial dispositions 
to be made after the war. Probably the most important reason, 
however, for the Bulgarian overthrow was that by this time they 



596 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR 

were sick of the war. They had not, in the first place, gone into it 
with any enthusiasm, and though they could fight bravely enough 
against their Serbian foe, no true Bulgarian could ever feel him- 
self in a natural position facing his old-time Russian friend. 

Bulgaria had come to the end. MaHnoff, the Premier, had 
from the beginning been opposed to the war. Mobs in Sofia were 
demanding surrender. Ferdinand was compelled to give way to 
the wishes of his Cabinet and his people, and in spite of the fact 
that he had promised the Kaiser to remain faithful to the AUiance, 
he gave his consent to the movement for unconditional surrender. 

An official Bulgarian statement read as follows: ''In view of 
the conjunction of circumstances which have recently arisen, and 
after the position had been jointly discussed with all competent 
authorities, the Bulgarian Government, desiring to put an end to 
the bloodshed, has authorized the Commander-in-Chief of the 
army to propose to the GeneraHssimo of the armies of the Entente 
at Saloniki, a cessation of hostilities, and the entering into of 
negotiations for obtaining an armistice and peace. The members 
of the Bulgarian delegation left yesterday evening in order to get 
into touch with the Plenipotentiaries of the Entente belHgerents." 
This statement was dated September 24th. 

When the Bulgarian officers entrusted with the proposal for 
an armistice presented themselves at Saloniki, General d'Esperey 
gave the following reply: "My response cannot be, by reason of 
the military situation, other than the following. I can accord 
neither an armistice nor a suspension of hostiHties tending to 
interrupt the operations in course. On the other hand, I will 
receive with all due courtesy the delegates duly quafified of the 
Royal Bulgarian Government." The Bulgarian delegates were 
General Lonkhoff, commander of the Bulgarian Second Army, 
M. Liapcheff, Finance Minister, and M. Radeff, a former member 
of the Bulgarian Cabinet. 

On the evening of the 29th an armistice was signed. The 
terms of the surrender were approved by the Entente govern- 
ments, and hostilities ceased at noon September 30th. The terms 
of the armistice were as follows: 

Bulgaria agrees to evacuate all the territory she now occupies in 
Greece and Serbia; to demobilize her army immediately and surrender all 
means of transport to the Allies. Bulgaria also will surrender her boats 



BULGARIA DESERTS GERMANY 597 

and control of navigation on the Danube, and concede to the Alhes free 
passage through Bulgaria for the development of military operations. All 
Bulgarian arms and ammunition are to be stored under the control of the 
Allies, to whom is conceded the right to occupy all important strategic 
points. The military occupation of Bulgaria will be entrusted to British, 
French and Italian forces, and the evacuated portions of Greece and 
Serbia, respectively, to Greek and Serbian troops. 

This armistice meant a complete military surrender, and 
Bulgaria ceased to be a belligerent. All questions of territorial 
rearrangement in the Balkans were purposely omitted from the 
Convention. The Allies made no stipulation concerning King 
Ferdinand, his position being considered an internal matter, one 
for the Bulgarians themselves to deal with. The armistice was to 
remain in operation until the final general peace was concluded. 

The request of Bulgaria for an armistice and peace, stunned 
Germany, which at that time was living in an atmosphere of political 
crisis and military misfortune. The German papers laid much 
of the blame on the desperate economic conditions in Bulgaria, 
which had been made worse by political strife. 

After the Bulgarian collapse the Serbians, with the other 
Allied troops who had just captured Uskub, swept northward to 
drive the remaining Germans and Austrians out of Serbia and 
beyond the Danube. On October 13th they captured Nish, thus 
cutting the famous Orient railroad from Berlin to Constantinople. 
German authorities announced that henceforth trains on this 
line would run only to the Serbian border. 

On October 4th King Ferdinand abdicated his throne in favor 
of his son Crown Prince Boris, and left Sofia the same night for 
Vienna. Before leaving he issued the following manifesto renounc- 
ing the Bulgarian crown: ; ,, . h, J 

By reason of the succession of events which have occurred in my 
kingdom, and which demand a sacrifice from each citizen, even to the 
surrendering of oneself for the well being of all, I desire to give as the first 
example the sacrifice of myself. Despite the sacred ties, which for thirty- 
two years have bound me so firmly to this country, for whose prosperity 
and greatness I have given all my powers, I have decided to renounce the 
royal Bulgarian crown in favor of my eldest son. His Highness the Prince 
Royal Boris of Tirnovo. I call upon all faithful subjects and true patriots 
to unite as one man about the throne of King Boris, to lift the country 
from its difficult situation, and to elevate new Bulgaria to the height 
to which it is predestined. 



598, HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR 

Before signing his declaration of abdication he had consulted 
with the party leaders and received their approval. King Ferdinand 
had lost his popularity ever since it became apparent that he had 
made a mistake in siding with the Teutonic Powers. He was 
undoubtedly in fear that a revolution might upset the whole 
dynasty. Premier Malinoff announced the abdication to the 
Bulgarian Parliament, and the accession of Prince Boris to the 
throne was received with much enthusiasm. The church bells 
were rung, and great crowds gathered in the streets. 

Speaking from the steps of the Palace the new King said: 
"I thank you for your manifestation of patriotic sentiments. 
I have faith in the good star of Bulgaria, and I believe that the 
Bulgar people, by their good quahties and co-operation, are directed 
to a brilliant future." King Ferdinand, it was given out, had 
renounced politics and was intending in the future to devote him- 
self to his favorite pursuits, chiefly to botany. 

The surrender of Bulgaria was at once recognized as the over- 
throw of Germany's ^^Mittel-Europa" threat, which had appar- 
ently been carried into effect when Turkey and Bulgaria joined the 
Central Powers. It had for a long time been one of Germany's 
most coveted aims. After the Franco-Prussian war the German 
people had grown enormously in wealth and in numbers. It had 
become one of the greatest manufacturing powers in the world. 
Its ships were transporting its commerce on every sea, but it was 
not satisfied. The German leaders, most of whom were young 
men at the time of the war with France, and had been deeply 
impressed by a sense of the German power, were full of the idea 
that Germany was the greatest of nations, and that she should 
impress her will on all the world. 

They might have done this peacefully, for the seas were free, 
but German self-esteem was not satisfied with peaceful progress. 
They felt that it was necessary to reach out in the world for colonies. 
They seized a province in China. They meddled with affairs in 
Morocco. They annexed colonies in Africa, but none of these 
projects were wholly satisfactory. They provided no great outlet 
for the products of their workshops, nor for their overflow popula- 
tion, which largely went to North and South America and became 
citizens of these foreign nations. 

Their eyes finally turned to the great East. There in China 



BULGARIA DESERTS GERMANY 



599 



and India and the neighboring countries were three hundred 
milHons of men whose trade would be a worthy prize for even 
Germany's ambition. Then began the development of what is 
sometimes called Germany's Mittel-Europa dream. Her scholars 
encouraged it; her travelers brought reports which stimulated the 
interest, and soon she began practically to carry it into effect. 




How THE Pan-Germans Planned to Extend Their "MnrEL-EtmoPA" Dream 

It meant the building of a great railroad down to the Persian GuK; 
a railroad to be controlled by nations where her influence would 
be all-powerful. She needed Austria, she needed Serbia, she 
needed Bulgaria and Turkey. 

At first the project was carried out peacefully. Friendly 
relations were stimulated with Turkey and the other necessary 
powers; permits were obtained to build the railroad. But Germany 
was not the only power that had dreamed this dream. Alexander 
the Great had done it. Napoleon had done it, and England had 



600 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR 

carried it out. From the days of Queen Elizabeth the English 
control of India was one of its greatest assets. 

Through most of the nineteenth century the English power 
in the East was threatened, not by Germany, but by Russia. It 
was because of this threat that England had always protected 
Turkey. Turkey and Constantinople were her barrier against 
Russia. The Hterature of England in the last days of the nineteenth 
century shows clearly her fear of Russian intrigues in India. Kip- 
ling's Indian stories are full of it. But now that fear had passed. 
It was no longer the imaginary danger which might come from the 
great Slavic Empire, but a trade weapon in the grasp of the most 
ejfficient military power ever developed that was threatening. 
Against this threat England had been doing her best. Here and 
there near the Persian Gulf she had been extending her influence. 
Here and there, as German Consuls obtained concessions, they 
would find them later withdrawn, because England had stepped in. 
Yet just before the war England, anxious for peace, had come to an 
agreement with Germany practically admitting the German plans 
to be carried out as far as Bagdad. 

It looked as though it were only a question of time, but when 
the Balkan wars estabhshed Serbia as the greatest of the Balkan 
powers, and gave Russia a preponderating influence among the 
Balkan nations, and when it began to look as if some great Balkan 
state might be estabhshed which should be friendly to Russia and 
consequently a hindrance to the German scheme, then it was that 
it was necessary that war should come. The Germans had been 
wonderfully successful. For a time they controlled Austria, 
Bulgaria, Serbia and Tm-key, but with Bulgaria's fall the end 
had come. They were compelled to awake from their Mittel- 
Europa dream. 



(6 

9 



CD p 






^ 2- 



''^(n 


a 


gp 


w 


<t> o 


o 


i^nT 


S 




c 


1 


•d P 


> 


p P 

ST. M 


s 


O CR 




^1 


s 


> 


2 w 


n 


B 


w 






5 i 





cr 
p 






OR 




t. k.. if ^l. %<> I ; ■ 

*' -*-^ .-I 

iV- / i>; r- "«■ .Wi *f f « 111 ^% 




CHAPTER XLVII 

The Central Empiees Whine for Peace 

^HE Allied victories in France diu-ing the months of August 
and September of 1918, led to a new peace offensive among 
the Central Powers. It was very plain to the German 
High Command, as well as to the AlKed leaders, that 
Germany's great ambitions had now been definitely thwarted. It 
seems clear that, in spite of the hopeful and encouraging words 
which they addressed to their own armies, the expert soldiers, 
who were controlHng the destinies of Germany, understood well 
the conditions they were facing. Putting aside all sentiment, 
therefore, they deliberately set out to obtain a peace which would 
leave them an opportunity to gain by diplomacy what they were 
sure that they were about to lose on the field of battle. They had 
made pleas for peace before, but their pleas had been rejected. 

The Allied leaders were fighting for a principle. They could 
not be satisfied with a draw. They could not be satisfied if Ger- 
many were left in a position which would enable her after a rest 
of a few years to renew her effort to impose her will upon the world. 
It was unanimously recognized that the war must be carried on 
to the very end. The Alhes took this position when the fortunes 
of war seemed to have gone against them, when Russia was defeated, 
Roumania and Serbia crushed, and the German lines in France 
were approaching the capital. It was unlikely that now, when 
Germany was suffering defeat and every day was yielding the 
Allied aiToies encouraging gains, there should be any change in 
the strong determination of the Allied leaders. Nevertheless, it 
was necessary to make the attempt. 

On September 15th, the Austro-Hungarian Government 
addressed a communication to the Allied Powers and to the Holy 
See suggesting a meeting for a confidential and non-binding dis- 
cussion of war aims, with a view to the possible calling of a peace 
conference. 

The official communication from the Austro-Hungarian Gov- 

603 



604 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR 

ernment was handed to Secretary of State Lansing in Washington 
at 6.20 o'clock on September 16th. 

At 6.45 the following abbreviated reply of the United States 
Government was made public, by the Secretary of State : 

I am authorized by the President to state that the following will be 
the reply of this government to the Austro-Hungarian note proposing an 
unofficial conference of belligerents. "The Government of the United 
States feels that there is only one reply which it can make to the suggestion 
of the Austro-Hungarian Government. It has repeatedly and with 
entire candor stated the terms upon which the United States would con- 
sider peace, and can and wiU entertain no proposal for a conference upon 
the matter concerning which it has made its position and purpose so plain." 

Arthur J. Balfour, the British Foreign Secretary, in a state- 
ment made September 16th said: "It is incredible that anything 
can come of this proposal. . . . This cynical proposal of the 
Austrian Government is not a genuine attempt to obtain peace. 
It is an attempt to divide the AlUes." Premier Clemenceau in 
France took similar grounds, and stated in the French Senate: 
"We will fight until the hour when the enemy comes to understand 
that bargaining between crime and right is no longer possible. 
We want a just and a strong peace, protecting the future against 
the abominations of the past." Italy joined with her Allies and 
declared that a negotiated peace was impossible. 

The refusal on the part of the AlUes to respond to the Austrian 
peace proposal evidently greatly disturbed the German leaders. 
The continued German reverses, and the surrender of Bulgaria 
had taken away all hope. They were anxious to conclude some 
kind of peace before ^meeting irretrievable disaster. They there- 
fore determined to appoint as Chancellor of the Empire some 
statesman who might be represented as a supporter of an honest 
peace, and Count von HertUng, whose previous utterances might 
put under suspicion any peace move coming from him, was removed 
and Prince MaximiUan of Baden appointed as his successor on 
September 30th. 

Prince Maximilian was put forward as a Moderate, in accord- 
ance with the evident purpose of the government to continue peace 
proposals. He was the heir apparent to the Grand Ducal throne 
of Baden, and was the first man in public Hfe in Germany to declare 
that the Empire could not conquer by the sword alone. He did 



CENTRAL EMPIRES WHINE FOR PEACE 605 

this in an address to the Upper Chamber in Baden, of which he 
was President, on December 15, 1917. ''Power alone can never 
secure our position," he said, "and our sword alone will never be 
able to tear down the opposition to us." 

At the same time he made an attack upon the ideals set up 
by President Wilson. "President Wilson," he continued, "after 
three years of war gathers together all the outworn slogans of the 
Entente of 1914, and denounces Germany as the disturber of the 
peace, proclaiming a crusade for humanity, liberty and the rights 
of small nations." Then, forgetting that the United States had 
entered the war nearly a month after the abdication of the Czar 
of Russia, he added: "President Wilson has no right to speak in 
the name of democracy and hberty, for he was the mighty war 
ally of Russian Czardom, but he had deaf ears when the Russian 
democracy appealed to him to allow it to discuss peace conditions." 
The Baden address created a great sensation all over Germany, 
which was increased when, in an interview in January, he declared 
that all ideas of conquest must be abandoned, and that Germany 
must serve as a bulwark to prevent the spread of Bolshevism among 
the western nations. 

There can be no doubt that the appointment of Prince 
Maximilian was a definite attempt to seek peace. It was thought 
that he would be recognized by the Allied leaders as an honest 
friend of peace, and that any effort he would make would be 
treated with respect. He was, however, a vigorous supporter of 
the Kaiser and of German autocracy, and while his appointment 
might mean that Germany was desirous of peace it did not mean 
that she had changed her ways. Three days before the appoint- 
ment of Prince Maximilian, President Wilson, in an address delivered 
in the Metropolitan Opera House in New York, had restated the 
issues of the war, declaring (1) for impartial justice, (2) settlement 
to be made in the common interests of all, (3) no leagues within 
the common family of the league of nations, (4) no selfish economic 
combination within that league, and (5) all international agree- 
ments and treaties of every kind must be made known in their 
entirety to the rest of the world. 

Prince MaximiUan, coming into power undoubtedly for the 
purpose of arranging a peace, proceeded at once to make a new 
peace offer. He based his action on President Wilson's speech 



606 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR 

and on October 4th sent to President Wilson, through the Swiss 
Government, the following note: 

The German Government requests the President of the United 
States to take in hand the restoration of peace, acquaint all the belligerent 
states with this request, and invite them to send plenipotentiaries for the 
purpose of opening negotiations. It accepts the program set forth by the 
President of the United States in his message to Congress on January 8th, 
and in his later pronouncements, especially his speech of September 27th, 
as a basis for peace negotiations. With a view to avoiding further blood- 
shed the German Government requests the immediate conclusion of an 
armistice on land and on water and in the air. 

_ He followed this note on October 5th with an address before 
the German Reichstag, of which the following are the most impor- 
tant points: 

In accordance with the Imperial decree of September 30th, the 
German Empire has undergone a basic alteration of its politic leadership. 
As successor to Count George F. von Hertling, whose services in behalf of 
the Fatherland deserve the highest acknowledgment, I have been sum- 
moned by the Emperor to lead the new government. In accordance with 
the governmental method now introduced I submit to the Reichstag, 
pubhcly and without delay, the principles by which I propose to conduct 
the grave responsibihties of the office. These principles were firmly 
established by the agreement of the federated governments and the 
leaders of the majority parties in this honorable House before I decided 
to assume the d;aties of Chancellor. They contain therefore not only my 
own confession of political faith, but that of an overwhelming portion of 
the German people's representatives — that is, of the German nation — 
which has constituted the Reichstag on the basis of a general, equal, and 
secret franchise and according to their will. 

Only the fact that I know the conviction and will of the majority 
of the people are back of me, has given me strength to take upon myself 
conduct of the Empire's affairs in this hard and earnest time in which we 
are living. One man's shoulders would be too weak to carry alone the 
tremendous responsibility which falls upon the government at present. 
Only if the people take active part in the broader sense of the word in 
deciding their destinies, in other words, if responsibility also extends to 
the majority of their freely elected pohtical leaders, can the leading states- 
man confidently assume his part of the responsibility in the service of folk 
and Fatherland. 

My resolve to this has been especially lightened for me by the fact 
that prominent leaders of the laboring class have found a way in the 
new government to the highest offices of the Empire. I see therein a sure 
guarantee that the new government will be supported by the confidence 



CENTRAL EMPIRES WHINE FOR PEACE 607 

of the broad masses of the people, without whose true support the whole 
undertaking would be compelled to failure in advance. Hence what I 
say today is not only in my own name, and those of my official helpers, 
but in the name of the German people. 

The program of the majority parties, upon which I take my stand, 
contains first, an acceptance of the answer of the former Imperial Govern- 
ment to Pope Benedict's note of August 1, 1916, and an unconditional 
acceptance of the Reichstag resolution of July 19th, the same year. It 
further declares willingness to join the general league of nations based on 
the foundation of equal rights for all, both strong and weak. It considers 
the solution of the Belgian question to lie in the complete rehabilitation 
of Belgium, particularly of its independence and territorial integrity. 
An effort shall also be made to reach an understanding on the question of 
indenmity. 

The program will not permit the peace treaties hitherto concluded to 
be a hindrance to the conclusion of the general peace. Its particular aim 
is that popular representative bodies shall be formed immediately on a 
broad basis in the Baltic provinces, in Lithuania and Poland. We will 
promote the realization of necessary preliminary conditions therefore 
without delay by the introduction of civilian rule. All these lands shall 
regulate their constitutions and their relations with neighboring peoples 
without external interference. --ri . i/^i 

He went on to point out the progressive political developments 
in Prussia and declared that the ''message of the King of Prussia 
promising the democratic franchise must be fulfilled quickly and 
completely." 

President Wilson did not find Prince Maximilian's proposal 
wholly satisfactory, and on October 8th, he inquired of the 
Imperial Chancellor whether the meaning of the proposal was that 
the German Government accepted the terms laid down in his ad- 
dress to the Congress of the United States and in subsequent ad- 
dresses; and whether its object in entering into discussions would 
be only to agree upon the practical details of their application. 
He also suggested that so long as the armies of the Central Powers 
were upon the soil of the governments with which the United 
States was associated, he would not feel at liberty to propose a 
cessation of arms to those governments. He also inquired whether 
the Imperial Chancellor was speaking merely for the constituted 
authorities of the Empire, who had so far conducted the war. 

President Wilson's reply aroused much difference of opinion 
among the Allies, but on the whole was regarded as a clever dip- 
lomatic move. 



608 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR 

The German Government responded to these questions of the 
President on October 12th, by a message signed by Dr. W. S. Solf, 
who had just been appointed Imperial Foreign Secretary. In this 
reply the German Government declared that it did accept Presi- 
dent Wilson's terms; that it was ready to comply with the sugges- 
tion of the President and withdraw its troops from Allied territory, 
and that the German Government was representing in all its actions 
the will of the great majority of the German people. 

Germany had, indeed, made enormous concessions, and the 
German people appeared to have taken for granted that such an 
offer would be accepted. An Amsterdam despatch declared: 
"People in BerHn are kissing one another in the street, though they 
are perfect strangers and shouting peace congratulations to each 
other. The only words heard anywhere in Germany are 'Peace 
at last'." 

The President however, had been struck by the news coming in 
from day to day of new atrocities in France, and of new cases of 
submarine murders, and in his reply of October 14th, he declared 
that while he was ready to refer the question of an armistice to the 
judgment and advice of military advisers of the government of 
the United States and the Allied governments, he felt sure that 
none of those governments would consent to consider an armistice 
as long as the armed forces of Germany continued the illegal and 
inhuman practices which they were persisting in. He also empha- 
sized the fact that no armistice would be accepted that would 
not provide absolutely satisfactory safeguards and guarantees of 
the maintenance of the military supremacy of the armies of the 
United States and of the Allies in the field. The President also 
called the attention of the Government of Germany to that clause 
of his address on the Fourth of July in which he had demanded 
"the destruction of every arbitrary power that can separately, 
secretly and of its single choice disturb the peace of the world, 
or, if it cannot be presently destroyed, at least its reduction to 
virtual impotency." He declared that the power which had hitherto 
controlled the German nation was of the sort thus described, and 
that its alteration actually constituted a condition precedent to 
peace. 

This answer of the President was greeted with approval in 
the United States and everywhere in the AlHed countries. It 



CENTRAL EMPIRES WHINE FOE PEACE 609 

meant that the Imperial Power of Germany was not to be allowed 
to hide itself behind a so-called reorganization done under its own 
direction. As one of the Senators of the United States expressed 
it: "It is an uneauivocal demand that the HohenzoUerns shall get 
out." 

During these negotiations the Allied armies under Marshal 
Foch had been driving the enemy before them. When Baron 
Burian was making his peace offer on behalf of Austria-Hungary 
the Americans were engaged in pinching off the St. Mihiel salient, 
and about that date the British were launching their great attack 
on the St. Quentin defenses. The reports of the great AlUed drive 
indicated a constant succession of AlHed victories. 

On September 19th, the British advanced into the Hinden- 
burg line, northwest of St. Quentin, and on September 20th, while 
the American guns were sheUing Metz, the British were advancing 
steadily near Cambrai and La Bassee. 

Day by day the advance proceeded. On September 26th, the 
first American army smashed through the Hindenburg line for an 
average gain of seven miles, between the Meuse and the Aisne rivers 
on a twenty-mile front. On September 27th, the French gained five 
miles in an advance east of Rheims, and the British were attacking 
in the Cambrai sector on a fourteen-mile front, crossing the Canal 
du Nord and piercing the Hindenburg fine at several points. On 
September 28th, the Americans reached the Kriemhilde line, 
while the British were close in on Cambrai. On September 30th, 
the British took Messines Ridge, while the French were still 
advancing between the Aisne and Vesle Rivers. On October 1st, 
the French troops entered St. Quentin and the British took the 
northern and western suburbs of Cambrai. During the next week 
an enveloping movement was instituted north and south of Lille. 
On October 5th, the Germans evacuated Lille, on October 9th the 
British took Cambrai. 

In these drives the American colored troops played a con- 
spicuous part. The entire Three hundred and sixty-fifth regiment, 
composed wholly of colored troops, was later awarded the coveted 
Croix de Guerre, or War Cross, by the French Government. It 
was a well-deserved honor, for the boys of the Three hundred 
and sixty-fifth bore themselves with great gallantry in the 
September and October offensive in the Champagne sector and 



610 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR 

suffered heavy losses. In conferring the Croix de Guerre, the 
citation dealt in considerable detail with the valor of particular 
officers and praised the courage and tenacity of the whole 
regiment. 

The Germans were retreating in Belgium day by day, under 
the attacks of the Belgian and French armies. On October 11th 
the Germans evacuated the Chemin des Dames. On October 16th 
the Germans began the evacuation of the Belgian coast region and 
each day increased the number of Belgian towns once more in 
Allied control. 




CHAPTER XLVIII 

Battles in the Air 

E WHO conquers the fear of death is master of his fate. 
Upon this philosophy fifty thousand young men of the 
warring nations went forth to do battle among the clouds. 
The story of these battles is the real romance of the 
World War. In 1914 no one had ever known and history had 
never recorded a struggle to the death in the air. When the war 
ended a new Uterature of adventure had been created, a literature 
emblazoned with superb heroisms, with God-Hke daring, and with 
such utter disdain of death that they were raised out of the olden 
ranks of mere earth-crawling mankind and became supermen of 
the air. 

Some of these heroic names became household words during the 
war. These were the aces of the French, American and German 
air-forces. The British adopted a policy in news concerning their 
airmen similar to that governing their publication of submarine 
sinkings. They argued that the naming of British, Canadian and 
Austrahan aces would direct the attacks of German aviators against 
the most useful men in the British forces. They also felt that 
pubHcity would tend toward the swagger which in English slang 
was ''swank" and toward a deterioration in disciphne. 

Raoul Lufberry, Quentin Roosevelt, son of ex-President 
Roosevelt, and Edward Rickenbacher were names that figured 
extensively in news of the American air forces. 

Lufberry and Roosevelt were killed in action. Rickenbacher, 
after dozens of hair-raising escapes from death, came through the 
war without injury. The pioneer of American aviators in the war 
was William Thaw of Yale, who formed the original Lafayette 
Escadrille. 

Besides these men, America produced a number of other 
brilliant aces, an ace being one who brought down five enemy 
planes, each victory being attested by at least three witnesses. 

611 



612 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR 

The French had as theu" outstanding aces Georges Guynemer 
and Rene Fonck. Guynemer went into the flying game as a 
mechanician. He became the most formidable human fighting 
machine on the western front before he was sent to death in a 
blazing airplane. 

Lieut. Rene Fonck ended the war with a total of seventy-five 
official aerial victories. He had an additional forty Hims to his 
credit but not officially confirmed. His greatest day was when 
he brought down six planes. His quickest work was the shooting 
down of three Germans in twenty seconds. 

He fought three distinct battles in the air when, on May 8, 
1918, he brought down six German airplanes in one day. All three 
engagements were fought within two hom-s. In all, Fonck fired 
only fifty-six shots, an average of httle more than nine bullets for 
each enemy brought down — an extraordinary record, in view of the 
fact that aviators often fired hundreds of rounds without crippUng 
their opponent. 

The first fight, in which Lieutenant Fonck brought down three 
German machines, lasted only a minute and a half, and the young 
Frenchman fired only twenty-two shots. Fonck was leading two 
other companions on a patrol in the Moreuil-Montdidier sector on 
May 8th, when the French squadron met three German two-seater 
airplanes coming toward them in arrow formation. Signaling to 
his companions. Lieutenant Fonck dived at the leading German 
plane and, with a few shots sent it down in flames. Fonck turned 
to the left, and the second enemy flier followed in an effort to 
attack him from behind, but the Frenchman made a quick turn 
above him and, with five shots, sent the second German to 
death. Ten seconds had barely elapsed between the two victories. 

The third enemy pilot headed for home, but when Lieutenant 
Fernck apparently gave up the chase and turned back toward the 
French lines the German went after him, and was flying parallel 
and a little below, when Fonck made a quick turn, drove straight 
at him and sent him down within half a mile of the spot where his 
two comrades hit the earth. 

The German heroes were the celebrated Captain Boelke, and 
the no less famous inventor of the ''flying circus," Count von 
Richthofen. Captain Boelke caused a great many Alhed ''crashes" 
by hiding in clouds and diving straight at planes flying beneath 



BATTLES IN THE AIR 613 

him. As he came within range, he opened up with a stream of 
machine-gun bullets. If he failed to get his prey, his rush carried 
him past his opponent into safety. He rarely re-attacked. Count 
von Richthofen was responsible for many airplane squadron 
tactics that later were used on both sides. The planes under his 
command were gaily painted for easy identification during the 
thick of a fight. Their usual method was to cut off single planes or 
small groups of AUied planes, and to circle around them in the 
method employed by Admiral Dewey for the reduction of the 
Spanish forts and ships in the Battle of Manila Bay. 

The dangers of aerial warfare were instrumental in producing 
high chivalry in all the encampments of air men. Graves of fallen 
aviators were marked and decorated by their former foes, and 
captured aviators received exceptionally good treatment, where 
foemen aviators could procure such treatment for them. 

Until the advent of America into the war, neither side had a 
marked advantage in aircraft. At first Germany had a shght 
advantage; then the balance swung to the Alhed side; but at no 
time was the scale tipped very much. American quantity pro- 
duction of airplanes, however, gave to the Entente AlHes an over- 
whelming advantage. Final standardization of tools and design 
for the "Soul of the American Airplane" was not accomphshed 
until February, 1918. Yet within eight months more than 15,000 
Liberty engines, each of them fully tested and of the highest quahty, 
were deHvered. 

The United States did not follow European types of engines, 
but in a wonderfully short time developed an engine standardized 
in the most recent efficiency of American industries. 

According to Secretary of War Baker, an inspiring feature of 
this work was the aid rendered by consulting engineers and motor 
manufacturers, who gave up their trade secrets under the emergency 
of war needs. Realizing that the new design would be a govern- 
ment design and no firm or individual would reap selfish benefit 
because of its making, the motor manufacturers, nevertheless, 
patriotically revealed their trade secrets and made available trade 
processes of great commercial value. These industries also con- 
tributed the services of approximately two hundred of their best 
draftsmen. Parts of the first engine were turned out at twelve 
different factories, located all the way from Connecticut to Cafi- 



614 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR 

fornia. When the parts were assembled the adjustment was 
perfect and the performance of the engine was wonderfully grat- 
ifying. 

Thirty days after the assembling of the first engine pre- 
liminary tests justified the government in formally accepting the 
engine as the best aircraft engine produced in any country. The 
final tests confirmed the faith in the new motor. 

British and French machines as a rule were not adapted to 
American manufacturing methods. They were highly speciahzed 
machines, requiring much hand work from mechanics, who were, 
in fact, artisans. 

The standardized United States aviation engine, produced 
under government supervision, said Secretary of War Baker, was 
expected ''to solve the problem of building first-class, powerful and 
yet comparatively dehcate aviation engines by American machine 
methods — the same standardized methods which revolutionized 
the automobile industry in this country." 

The manufacture of De Haviland airplanes equipped with 
Liberty motors was a factor in the war. One of these De Havilands 
without tuning up, made a non-stop trip on November 11, 1918, 
from Dayton, Ohio, to Washington, D. C, a distance of 430 miles, 
in three hours and fifty minutes. Great battle squadrons of these 
De Haviland planes equipped with Liberty motors made bombing 
raids over the German fines in the Verdun sector. Others operated 
as scouting and reconnaissance planes and as spotters for American 
artillery. 

In the period from September 12th to 11 o'clock on the morning 
01 November 11th, the American aviators brought down 473 Ger- 
man machines. Of this number, 353 were confirmed officially. 
Day bombing groups, from the time they began operations, dropped 
a total of 116,818 kilograms of bombs within the German lines. 

Bombing operations were begun in August by the 96th Squa- 
dron, which in five flying days dropped 18,080 kilograms of bombs. 
The first day bombardment group began work in September, the 
group including the 96th, the 20th and 11th Squadrons. The 
166th Squadron joined the group in November. 

' In twelve flying days in September the bombers dropped 
3,466 kilograms of bombs; in fifteen flying days in October, 46,133 
kilograms, and in four flying days in November, 17,979 kilograms. 



BATTLES IN THE AIR 615 

On November 11th, the day of the signing of the armistice, 
there were actually engaged on the front 740 American planes, 
744 pilots, 457 observers and 23 aerial gunners. "^-S; ^ ^ 

Of the total number of planes, 329 were of the pursuit type, 
296 were for observation and 115 were bombers. In addition, 
several hundred planes of various types were being used at the 
instruction camps when the war ended. 

America, although the last of the great nations to embark upon 
a great aircraft production program, was the birthplace of the 
airplane, the Wright Brothers being the undisputed inventors of 
the modern type. 

Wilbur and Orville Wright made their first experiments 
in flying at Kittyhawk, N. C. Their first attempts were of a gliding 
nature and were accomphshed by starting from the top of a dune 
or sand hill, the operator lying full length, face downward, on the 
under plane of the machine. During these experiments they suc- 
ceeded in flying six hundred feet. 

Their first flight with an airplane driven by a motor was on 
December 17, 1903, when they succeeded in fl3dng about two hun- 
dred and seventy yards in fifty-nine seconds. This machine was 
driven by a sixteen-horse-power motor. 

Santos Dumont was one of the early pioneers in aeronautical 
experiments. After showing a marked talent with balloons, he 
turned his attention to heavier-than-air machines, and in 1906 
created a world's record in a flight of 230 yards at a speed of twenty- 
five miles an hour. 

In 1907 Henry Farnum made a haK circular flight in a Voisin 
biplane, using a fifty-horse-power motor, returning to his start- 
ing point. About this time a flight of nine minutes and fifteen 
seconds was recorded by Delagrande on a Voisin constructed biplane. 

The first previously announced pubHc flight was made on 
July 4, 1908, by Glenn H. Curtiss at Hammondsport, N. Y., and 
was witnessed by a number of New Yorkers who had gone to 
Hammondsport to see the flight. 

In the winter of 1913-14 Mr. Hodman Wanamaker gave 
Glenn H. Curtiss a commission to build a flying boat which would 
fly across the Atlantic. Commander Porte was brought from 
England, and he, with Mr. Curtiss, worked out the designs for a 
flying boat much larger than any previously built, and fitted with 



616 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR 

two motors instead of one. As entirely separate power plants 
would be used, one motor would naturally run somewhat faster 
than the other, and it was freely predicted that the machine could 
not be handled. The first trial, however, proved that it would 
not only fly, but that after it was once in the air, one motor could 
be slowed down and even stopped and the machine continue to fly. 
This machine was the forerunner of the seaplane, used by the 
American, British and other navies in the war, although somewhat 
changed in detail. The beginning of the war stopped the trans- 
atlantic experiments and this machine found its way into the 
British navy. It was christened the "America," and the larger 
flying boats or seaplanes which are now being built and used by 
the British and American navies are still known as the "America" 
or super-American type. 

At first fighting operations were carried out by individual 
aviators or comparatively small squadrons, but the battles of 
March, 1918, witnessed the definite development of larger squadrons, 
maneuvering as effectively as bodies of cavalry, and in massed 
formation attacking infantry columns. The possibilities of the 
new aerial arm were further demonstrated in the creation of a 
barrage, as effective as that of heavy artillery, for the purpose of 
holding back advancing bodies of infantry. 

In the first days of the German offensive there took place an 
aerial battle which up to that time was unique in the annals of 
warfare. It was a battle not merely for the purpose of gaining 
the mastery of the air, but to aid AlHed infantry and artillery in 
stemming the tide of the German advance, and when the drive 
finally slowed down and came to a halt in Picardy, the Allied airmen 
had undoubtedly contributed largely to the result. 

During March 21 and 22, 1918 — the opening days of the 
great German drive — there was comparatively little aerial activity. 
The aviators of both sides were preparing for the impending battle, 
which actually began on the morning of March 23d and lasted all 
that day and the day following. 

The story of the air battle of March 23d-24th reads like one 
of the most extraordinary adventure tales ever imagined. The 
struggle began with squadrons of airplanes ascending and maneuver- 
ing as perfectly as cavalry. They rose to dizzy heights, and, 
descending, swept the air close to the ground. The individual 



BATTLES IN THE AIR 617 

pilots of the opposing sides then began executing all manner of 
movements, cHmbing, diving, turning in every direction, and 
seeking to get into the best position to pour machine-gun fire into 
enemy airplanes. Every few minutes a machine belonging to an 
AUied or German squadron crashed to the ground, often in flames. 
At the end of the first day's fighting wrecked airplanes and the 
mangled bodies of aviators lay strewn all over the battle-field. 

All next day, March 24th, the struggle in the air went on with 
unabated iury. The AlHed air squadrons were now on the offensive 
and penetrated far inside the German lines. The German aviators 
counter-attacked whenever they could, and more than once suc- 
ceeded in crossing the French fines. But at the close of the second 
day victory rested with the AUied airmen, and during the next five 
scarcely a German airplane took the air. 

The sudden termination of the war caused speculation through- 
out the world concerning the futiu^e of the airplane. When rumor 
declared that America's newly-won pre-eminence in aviation would 
disappear. Captain Roy N. Francis, of the Division of Mifitary 
Aeronautics, made this statement. 

America cannot afford to junk the airplane fleet which has cost her so 
many millions of dollars. I do not believe that any other nation will 
do so. Even if the peace congress should decide on universal disarmament, 
there are still any number of uses to which airplanes can be put in time 
of peace. 

Take the air mail service, for instance. This is now only in its infancy, 
but it is destined to become as common as the railway mail service. It 
will employ hundreds of airplanes and aviators all over the country. 

Then there is the possibility of our machines being used for sea- 
coast patrol v*^ork, a valuable addition to our coast-guard forces which save 
many ocean vessels from disaster every year. 

They will be largely used for army dispatch work. Instead of sending 
official messages from post to post by the present methods, airplanes 
will be used after the war as they are now being used at the front. 

On the Great Lakes, airplanes can be used for coast-guard work, 
as on the seacoast, and they can also be used for patrolling the lakes 
themselves. Think how many wrecked lake vessels might have been 
saved in the past had there been an airplane nearby to carry its message 
of distress and guide rescue ships to the scene. 

Forest patrol is still another opening for the use of expert aviators. 
Every year, almost, our great forest fires in the northwest demonstrate 
that our present methods of prevention of forest fires are faulty; chiefly 
because the fires are not discovered while they are still smoldering. Con- 



618 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR 

stant airplane patrol over our great forests would make forest fires a thing 
of the past. 

Then there are any number of commercial uses to which airplanes 
can be put. Instead of a cargo of bombs, a commercial airplane could 
carry a cargo of small package freight for which immediate delivery is 
necessary. 

The use of the airplane for passenger carrjdng is now being developed. 
The huge Caproni and Handley-Page machines will be used for this pur- 
pose in the future. Thousands of persons will want to fly just for the 
novelty, and the possibiHty of accidents will be reduced to the minimum. 

Again, there is the need for scientific research and improvement of 
the airplane, which will keep scores of men and machines busy for years. 

It will not be necessary, of course, to maintain the nimierous govern- 
ment training fields for aviators after the war, but some of the best of them 
should be retained. I do not beHeve it will be necessary to discharge a 
single pilot or observer from the army or to junk a single undamaged 
airplane after the war. 

Henry Woodhouse, Governor of the Aero Club of America 
and a world-wide authority on aeronautics, made the following 
forecast: 

Aircraft capable of lifting fifteen tons, with a speed of one hundred 
miles an hoiu*, are now in actual production. The first of the American- 
built Caproni planes, equipped with four Liberty motors and developing 
1,750 horse-power has just been successfully tested. This giant plane has 
a total hfting capacity of 40,000 pounds, or twenty tons. The super- 
Handley-Page or the Caproni could easUy carry fifty bags, or more than a 
ton of mail. This means 100,000 letters. Judging the future development 
of aircraft by what has taken place ia the last two years, we may look for 
the building of a 5,000-horse-power airplane, possibly within a year. 

If the people of the various cities along the eight great air-ways 
already proposed insist on it, at least a dozen additional aerial maU lines 
can be estabhshed within twelve months. This can be done by utihz- 
ing only machines not needed by the army or navy. That means it will 
be possible to send by postplane at least 60,000,000 of the 100,000,000 
day and night letters, and at least 25,000,000 of the 50,000,000 special 
dehvery letters that are sent each year in the United States. 

Postoffice officials estimate that the average cost of telegraphic day 
ajnd night letters now going over the wires is close to one dollar each. 
Special delivery letters average about thirteen cents apiece. 

This makes a total of more than fifty million dollars' worth of potential 
aerial mail business that is simply waiting for the estabhshment of aerial 
mail routes which can easily be established within the next twelve months. 

Four hundred miles is the distance over which postplane day mail 
is most effective. Aerial mail letters are effective over any distance, 
since, with proper stations, light signals and guides for night postplane 




CARRYING THE WAR INTO GERMANY 

Mechanics "tuning up" one of the giant British bombing machines developed 
in 1918 that raided Germany. The size is shown by comparison with the human 
figures. Note the forward gunner, the pilot, the rear gunner and the window of 
the commodious cock-pit within which the airmen could stand upright. 



BATTLES IN THE AIR 621 

flying, the air mail can be carried more than one thousand miles between 
the hours of 6 p. m. and 8 a. m. 

The cost of aerial mail night and day letters will be less than that of 
wire communication. The cost of an aerial mail letter is sixteen cents for 
two ounces. For this price there can be sent a message that would cost 
five dollars to send by telegraph. 

The estimate of $50,000,000 of potential postplane business takes 
no account of the possibilities of transporting parcel post aerial mail. 
One of the Caproni 2,100-horse-power machines now in operation could 
easUy transport 2,500 pounds of mail. At least $25,000,000 worth of 
parcel post could be sent by airplance. 

Enthusiasts who look forward to the transatlantic transportation of 
aerial mail as certain to come within the next twelve-month assert that 
there is another twenty-five million dollars' worth of transatlantic mail 
waiting for an aerial mail service. They point out that Uncle Sam now 
pays eighty cents a pound to American steamships to carry transatlantic 
mail and that a charge of one dollar per letter across the Atlantic would be a 
paying proposition. 

Charges of mismanagement and graft were investigated by the 
United States Senate and by the Department of Justice. Former 
Justice of the United States Supreme Com-t Charles E. Hughes 
was named by President Wilson to conduct the latter inquiry. 
Waste was foimd, due largely to the emergency nature of the 
contract. Justice Hughes recommended that Col. Edward Deeds, 
of the United States Signal Corps, be tried by court martial for 
his connection with certain contracts, and recommended that sev- 
eral other persons be tried in the United States courts. Justice 
Hughes and the Senate Investigation Committee gave their un- 
qualified approval to the management of America's aircraft pro- 
duction by John D. Ryan. Mr. Ryan resigned his charge as 
head of the Aircraft Production Board in November, 1918. His 
last public announcement was of the invention of an aerial tele- 
phone, by which the commander of a squadron standing on the 
ground could comimunicate with aviators flying in battle formation. 




CHAPTER XLIX 

Health and Happiness of the American Forces 

INCE the fateful day when Cain slew Abel, thereby setting 
a precedent for human warfare, no fighter has been so well 
protected from disease and discomfort of mind and body, 
so speedily cured of his wounds, as the American soldier 
and sailor during the World War. 

The basis of this remarkable achievement was sanitary edu- 
cation preached first by competent physicians and sociologists; 
then by newspapers to the civilian population; and ultimately by 
the soldiers and sailors themselves, each man acting as an evangel 
of personal and community health and sanitation. In 1914, before 
war was declared, the words '' venereal diseases" were relegated to 
the advertisements of quacks and patent medicines. When the 
war ended, virtually every young and old man and woman knew 
the meaning of the words and the miseries that come in their 
train. So it was with other details of the care of the human body, 
with sewage problems, with the grave community question of 
pure water, with the use of intoxicating beverages, and with other 
problems inter-woven with the health and happiness of humanity. 

Among the leaders in this wide-flung campaign of education 
was the American Red Cross. Starting with a mere nominal 
membership before the war, its roster rose to the mighty total of 
more than 28,000,000 American men, women and children when 
the war ended. More than $300,000,000 was poured into the 
American Red Cross treasury. In addition to these contributions 
of money, came the free services of millions of Americans, mostly 
women. Red Cross v/orkshops dotted the land, and from these 
came bandages, sweaters, comfort-kits, trench necessities, clothing 
for homeless refugees, and a vast quantity of material aid in every 
conceivable form. American Red Cross workers during the war 
knitted 14,089,000 garments for the army and navy. In addition, 
the workers turned out 253,196,000 surgical dressings, 22,255,000 
hospital garments and 1,464,000 refugee garments. Sewing chap- 

622 



HEALTH AND HAPPINESS OF THE FORCES 623 

ters repaired old clothing and sent it overseas to the orphaned 
and the widowed, and millions of Americans learned the sublime 
lesson of sacrifice through the Red Cross — a lesson that left its 
imprint upon America for generations. 

The work of the American Red Cross extended through many- 
lands. It followed the flags of the Entente Allies into Palestine, 
Mesopotamia, India, South Africa, and other battle-grounds. 
Its work on the western front was a miracle of achievement. In 
Russia through the Red Terror of the Revolution the workers of 
the American Red Cross went serenely about their tasks of mercy, 
relieving the hungry, aiding the sick, and clothing the ragged 
peasants. 

Henry P. Davidson left the firm of J. P. Morgan & Company 
to devote his administrative genius to the affairs of the American 
Red Cross. Other men and women of rare executive ability joined 
in the free tender of their services to the work of the Red Cross. 

While the organization strove mightily against famines, 
wounds and disease overseas, it was suddenly confronted during 
the period from September 8th to November 9th, 1918, with the 
severest epidemic America had experienced in generations* Return- 
ing American troops brought the germs of the malady known as 
"Spanish influenza" into New York and Boston. Thence it 
spread throughout the country. During its brief career the epi- 
demic claimed a total of 82,306 deaths in forty-six American cities, 
having a combined population of 23,000,000. Philadelphia, a great 
center of war industry, with the Philadelphia Navy Yard harboring 
thousands of sailors and marines, showed the highest mortality in 
proportion to population, 7.4 per 1,000; Baltimore with 6.7 per 1,000 
showed the next greatest mortality. 

The record of the Red Cross in this epidemic was one of 
instant service. Hundreds of thousands of masks were made in 
Red Cross workrooms, and these were worn by nurses and by 
members of families in afflicted homes. 

On May 1, 1917, just before the appointment of the War 
Council, the American Red Cross had 486,194 members working 
through 562 chapters. On July 31, 1918, the organization num- 
bered 20,648,103 annual members, besides 8,000,000 members of 
the Junior Red Cross — a total enrolment of over one-fourth the 
population of the United States. These members carried on their 



624 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR 

Red Cross work thi'ough 3,854 chapters, which again divided 
themselves into some 30,000 branches and auxiharies. 

The total actual collections from the first war fund amounted 
to more than $115,000,000. The subscriptions to the second war 
fund amounted to upward of $176,000,000. From membership 
dues the collections approximated $24,500,000. 

The Home Service of the Red Cross with its more than 40,000 
workers, extended its ministrations of sympathy and counsel 
each month to upward of 100,000 families left behind by soldiers 
at the front. 

Supplementing, but not duplicating, the work of the American 
Red Cross, were the services of the Y. M. C. A., Y. W. C. A., 
Knights of Columbus, Jewish Welfare Association, Salvation Army, 
American Library Association and other bodies. 

These operated under the general supervision of the War and 
Navy departments: Commissions on Training Camp Activities. 
Raymond B. Fosdick was the chairman of both these bodies. 
Concerning these commissions, President Wilson declared: 

' I do not believe it an exaggeration to say that no army ever before 
assembled has had more conscientious and painstaking thought given to 
the protection and stimulation of its mental, moral and physical man- 
hood. Every endeavor has been made to surround the men, both here 
and abroad, with the kind of environment which a democracy owes to 
those who fight in its behalf. In this work the Commissions on Training 
Camp Activities have represented the government and the government's 
solicitude that the moral and spiritual resources of the nation should be 
mobilized behind the troops. The country is to be congratulated upon 
the fine spirit with which organizations and groups of many kinds, some 
of them of national standing, have harnessed themselves together imder 
the leadership of the government's agency in a common ministry to the 
men of the army and navy. 

Afloat and ashore the organizations operating under the super- 
vision of the two commissions gave to the men of the American 
forces home care, suitable recreation, and constant protection. 
The club life of the army and navy, both in the training camps and 
after the men went into the service, was most capably directed 
by the Y. M. C. A., Knights of Columbus, and the Jewish Welfare 
Association. Non-sectarianism was the rule in all of the huts and 
clubs conducted by these organizations. Catholic, Protestant and 
Jewish chaplains mingled with workers of the Salvation Army, 



HEALTH AND HAPPINESS OF THE FORCES Q^5 

with professional prize-fighters who became athletic instructors, 
with actors and actresses who contributed their talents freely to 
the entertainment of soldiers and sailors. Moving-picture shows, 
boxing contests, continuation schools, canteens where women 
workers served American-made dishes — these were some some of the 
activities following the men. The Y. M. C. A. and Knights of 
Columbus bore the largest share of this work. More than $300,- 
000,000 was contributed by the people of America to the main- 
tenance of these activities. 

The other organizations rounded out the work of the first 
two organizations and filled in with special attention to needs on 
which the others did not specialize. 

The larger organization, the Y. M. C. A., was chosen by the 
government to carry out a portion of the government program — 
the conducting of the canteens. 

The Knights of Columbus specialized in comforts less considered 
by other war reUef organizations. 

Nothing gave greater relaxation to the fighting man, coming 
from the trenches, or the battle line caked with mud and blood 
and weary with long hours, than a shower bath, and generous 
facilities were provided close to the fighting front. 

Back of the lines in the rest billets and concentration camps, 
provisions were less generous than at the front until the Knights 
of Columbus took up the task of seeing that the men who were 
temporarily away from the active fighting had these facilities for 
bathing. It was but one of the many activities of the Knights of 
Columbus, but one of the most appreciated. 

One of the first requisitions made by Rev. John B. De Valles, 
one of the first chaplains sent over by the Knights of Columbus, 
was for a shower bath and he set it up in connection with his head- 
quarters in a little French town and it was overworked from the 
first. From this spread the movement for establishing shower 
baths in club houses being opened behind the lines and in villages. 

There was no preaching in a Knights of Columbus hall or club 
room, but there was clean moral environment and healthy recreation 
and amusement, for this was proven the thing to keep up the morale 
of fighting men. 

The Y. M. C. A. built 1,500 huts in Europe costing from $2,000 
to $20,000 each, equipped with canteen, reading and writing and 



626 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR 

recreational facilities to soldiers. It operated twenty-eight different 
leave areas with hotels that had a total of 35,000 beds. In addition, 
in Paris, port towns, and several big centers in the war zone there 
were "Y" hotels for transient soldiers where one could get a clean 
bed and a good meal at about haK the price charged by French 
hotels. Over 3,000 movie and theatrical shows a week were pro- 
vided free, and 300 "Y" athletic directors had charge of the sports 
in the American army, operating 836 athletic fields. Enormous 
quantities of cookies and chocolate and cigarettes were supplied. 

A hundred of the best known educators from America directed 
educational work. The staff consisted of Professor Erskine of 
Columbia University, Professor Daly of Harvard, Professor Cole- 
man of Chicago University, Professor Appleton of the University 
of Kansas and Frank Spaulding, superintendent of the Cleveland 
pubHc schools. 

Seconding the work of the Y. M. C. A., its sister organization, 
the Y. W. C. A., extended its activities from the training camps of 
America to the battle-fields of Europe. 

At the close of its first year of America's participation in the 
war, the Y. W. C. A. had six established Unes of work in France: 
Hostess Houses, clubs for French working women and business 
girls, clubs for nurses with the American army, clubs for women of 
the signal corps, clubs for British women (Waac's) working with 
the American army, and recreation work for all women employed 
in any way by the American Expeditionary Force. In one year 
its activities spread to twenty-five cities, and it had forty-three 
units. 

The Hostess Houses were at Paris and Tours. The Hotel 
Petrograd, on the Rue Caumartin, was leased in Paris and turned 
out to be one of the most interesting centers of American life in 
France. It was run on the most Hberal lines, in a thoroughly 
democratic way. The meals were good and in the big dining-room 
men were admitted on the same footing as women. There were 
two of these Hostess Houses at Tours. 

For the girls of the signal corps twenty-two homes were opened 
and there were huts for the Waacs at Bourges and Tours. Y. W. 
C. A. secretaries were attached to twenty base hospital units and 
opened fourteen clubs for nurses. 

The most interesting and unique work of the Y. W. C. A. was 



HEALTH AND HAPPINESS OF THE FORCES 627 

that of its foyers for French working women and business girls. 
There were thirteen of these in Lyons, Rouen, Bourges, Tours, 
Ste. Etienne, Paris and Mont Lucon. 

The Salvation Army erected hotels at the various large train- 
ing camps in America, and its workers made American doughnuts 
for the soldiers close to the battle-lines in France. The work done 
by the men and women of the Salvation Army aided materially 
in bringing the heart of America into France. 

The Jewish Welfare Association not only performed notable 
service in following the men from training camps into actual ser- 
vice, but it also planned and executed a great reconstruction pro- 
gram under the direction of Felix M. Warburg, chairman of the 
Joint Distribution Committee. 

The American Library Association solved the grave problem 
of providing the soldiers and sailors with suitable reading matter. 
Each of the cantonments had its special library building in charge 
of a trained Ubrarian, and interesting literature followed the men 
into the field through the services of this organization. 

Some idea of the work of these various organizations is gained 
by reading the following order received by Raymond B. Fosdick 
at his headquarters in Washington after the steamship Kansas 
carrying supplies for the various huts at American field quarters, 
was sunk: 

Send 20 tons plain soap, 20 tons condensed milk, 10 tons chocolate, 
5 tons cocoa, 2 tons tea, 5 tons coffee, 5 tons vanilla wafers, 50 tons sugar, 
20 tons flour, 2 tons fruit essences, 2 tons lemonade powder, 120,000 Testa- 
ments, 120,000 hymn-books, tons of magazines and other literature, 30 
tons writing-paper and envelopes, 60,000 folding chairs, 500 camp cots, 
2,000 blankets, 20 typewriters, 60 tents, 75 moving-picture machines, 
200 phonographs, 5,000 records, 1 ton ink blotters, $75,000 worth athletic 
goods, 30 automobiles and trucks. 

The order was filled at once. 

Besides the associations above enumerated, other volunteer 
organizations contributed to the health and happiness of American 
soldiers and sailors. The Emergency Aid of Pennsylvania estab- 
lished two clubs, one in Paris, the other in Tours, both of which 
performed notable services in feeding and restoring the spirits of 
American soldiers and sailors. The club in Paris was under the 
direction of the Rev. Frederick W. Beekman, and that at Tours 



628 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR 

i*^^ , '.' ■ 

was directed by Amos Tuck French. Mrs. Barclay Warburton 
of Philadelphia was designated by Governor Brumbaugh as Com- 
missioner-General of Overseas Work for the Emergency Aid. 
Other states had similar organizations looking after the comfort 
of the men. -__ --;'^ 

But it was upon tne professional doctors, nurses and sani- 
tarians that the bulk of the task devolved. This task included the 
prevention as well as the cure of maladies menacing the American 
forces. It reached out into years after the war into the problems 
of re-education and re-habihtation of the shell-shocked and the 
wounded. Major-General Wilham C. Gorgas, former Surgeon 
General of the Army, stated this concept when he said: 

"The whole conception of governmental and national respon- 
sibility for caring for the wounded has undergone radical change dur- 
ing the months of study given the subject by experts serving with 
the Medical Officers' Reserve Corps and others consulting with 
them. Instead of the old idea that responsibility ended with the 
return of the soldier to private life with his wounds healed and 
such pension as he might be given, it is now considered that it is 
the duty of the government to equip and re-educate the wounded 
man, after heahng his wounds, and to return him to civil life ready 
to be as useful to himself and his country as possible." 

To carry out this idea reconstruction hospitals were estab- 
lished in large centers of population. Boston, New York, Phila- 
delphia, Baltimore, Washington, Buffalo, Cincinnati, Chicago, 
St. Paul, Seattle, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Denver, Kansas 
City, St. Louis, Memphis, Richmond, Atlanta and New Orleans 
were sites of these institutions. Each was planned as a 500-bed 
hospital but with provision for enlargement to 1,000 beds if needed. 

These hospitals were not the last step in the return of the 
wounded soldiers tocivil life. When the soldiers were able to 
take up industrial training, further provision was ready. 

Arrangements were made by the Department of Mihtary 
Orthopedics to care for soldiers, so far as orthopedics (the pre- 
vention of deformity) was concerned, continuously until they 
were returned to civil hfe. Orthopedic sm-geons were attached 
to the medical force near the firing line and to the different 
hospitals back to the base orthopedic hospital which was estabUshed 
within one hundred miles of the firing line. In this hospital, in addi- 



HEALTH AND HAPPINESS OJ THE FORCES 629 

tion to orthopedic surgical care, there was equipment for surgical 
reconstruction work and ''curative v/orkshops" in which men ac- 
quired abiUty to use injured members while doing work interesting 
and useful in itself. This method supplanted the old and tiresome 
one of prescribing a set of motions for a man to go through with no 
other purpose than to re-acquire use of his injured part. 

Instructors and examiners for all the troops were furnished 
by the Department of Mihtary Orthopedic Surgery. A number 
of older and more experienced surgeons acted as instructors and 
supervisors for each of the groups into which the army was 
divided. 

• A peculiar condition arising from the use of heavy artillery 
in the war was that called ''shell-shock." 

The most pathetic wrecks of war were soldiers suffering from 
shattered nerves. Paris had many of them. They appeared to 
be normal. But they were human wrecks. 

Shell-shock or the aftermath of illness from wounds left them 
in weakened health, subject to violent heart attacks. Most of 
them lacked energy and perseverance. They became awkward, 
like big children. If employment was found for them — for many 
had large famihes to support — they quickly lost their jobs through 
apathy or collapse. 

A society in Paris did everything possible to reheve the suf- 
ferings of these victims of the war. It operated with the authoriza- 
tion of the French Government under the name "L' Assistance aux 
Blesses Nerveux de la Guerre." 

American hospitals after the war contained many of these 
cases. Some of the victims became incurably insane. 

Besides the noble work done by the great army of American 
physicians, surgeons and nurses, in caring for soldiers and sailors, 
a service of scarcely less magnitude was rendered to the civilian 
populations of France, Belgium and Italy. Tuberculosis in 
France was a real plague, taking a toll of 80,000 lives every year. 
American physicians and nurses preached the doctrine of fresh 
air, care of the teeth and proper food for children. Almost imme- 
diately this campaign of sanitation had its effect in a decreasing 
death-rate from tuberculosis. 

II European nations generally were benefited by the stay of the 
American army overseas. The straightforward manner in which 
the social evil was attacked had direct benefits. The important 

86 



630 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR 

detail of dental care also received an interest through the advent 
of the American soldier. The London Daily Mail made this 
comment on that question: 

''One thing about the American soldiers and sailors must 
strike English people when they see these gallant fighters, and that 
is the soundness and general whiteness of their teeth. From child- 
hood the 'Yank' is taught to take care of his teeth. He has 
'tooth drill' thrice daily and visits his dentist at fixed periods, 
say, every three or four months. If by chance a tooth does decay, 
the rot is at once arrested by gold or platinum filling. American 
dentists never extract a tooth. No matter how badly decayed it 
may be, they save the molar by crowning it with gold. 

"The United States soldiers have set us a splendid example 
in this matter. They fairly shame the ordinary 'Tommy' by 
the brilliance of their molars, but they will do so no longer if young 
English mothers will only wake up to the fact that bad teeth cause 
bad health, and that doctors' and dentists' bills will be saved by 
the regular use of the tooth-brush." 



CHAPTER L 
The Pirates op the Under-Seas 

GERMANY relied upon the submarine to win the war. 
This in a nut-shell explains the main reason why the 
United States was drawn into the World War. Von 
Tirpitz, the German Admiral, obsessed with the theory 
that no effective answer could be made to the submarine, con- 
vinced the German High Command and the Kaiser that only 
through unrestricted submarine warfare could England be starved 
and the war brought to an end with victory for Germany. Since 
August, 1914, the theory held by von Tirpitz and his party of 
extremists had been combated by Prince Maximilian of Baden 
and by Chancellor von Bethmann-HoUweg and by others high in 
the council of the Kaiser. These men pointed out that, leaving 
out such questions as piracy on the high seas, the drowning of 
women and children, the destruction of the property of neutrals, 
there still remained the question of expediency. America, they 
asserted, was certain to enter the war if unrestricted submarine 
warfare was decreed. These men were denounced as cowards 
and von Tirpitz finally triumphed. 

The submarine employed by the Germans was of the type 
designed by Simon Lake, an American. The Germans bought 
two submarines built by Mr. Lake at Kronstadt for the Russians 
during the Russian-Japanese war. Various improvements upon 
the Diesel engine and special training for submarine crews enabled 
the German navy to strike terrible blows during the early part of 
the war. 

Little by little, however, the AlUes discovered the answer 
to the submarine menace. One of these was the convoy: fleets of 
merchant vessels surrounded by fast destroyers made Ufe a misery 
for the submarine crews. In the early days vessels of all char- 
acter fled from the approach of the submarine. The destroyers 
of the convoys, however, adopted a different method. They 
rushed at the periscopes in efforts to ram the submarine, and as 

631 



632 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR 

they raced over the spot where the submarine had been at the 
rate of twenty-two knots or more an hour, they dropped huge 
containers, dubbed '^ash cans", containing depth charges of trini- 
trotoluol. 

Sea planes carrying bombs, small dirigible balloons known 
as ^'bhmps," observation balloons moored on the decks of warships, 
steel nets, and especially devised anti-submarine mines, were also 
factors in the general work of submarine destruction. 

In addition to all these, every ship, both cargo carrier and 
war vessel, had its well-trained gun crew, and hundreds of thousands 
of keen-eyed mariners daily and nightly swept the seas with 
binoculars watching for anything that resembled a periscope. 

As a consequence of this combination of destructive agencies 
the British Admiralty was enabled to announce at the close of the 
war that more than 150 German submarines had been destroyed. 

The names of the commanding officers of the German sub- 
marines which had been disposed of were given out by the govern- 
ment in order to substantiate to the world the statement made 
by the Prime Minister in the House of Commons on August 7th, 
and denied in the German papers, that "at least 150 of these ocean 
pests had been destroyed." The statement included no officers 
commanding the Austrian submarines, of which a number had 
been destroyed, and did not exhaust the Hst of German submarines 
put out of action. 

The fate of the officers was given, and of these the majority 
(116) were dead; twenty-seven were prisoners of war, six were 
interned in neutral countries where they took refuge, and one 
succeeded in returning to Germany. 

Further fight on the subject of German submarines was given 
on September 18, 1918, by Senator WilHam H. Thompson of Kansas 
in a speech in which he told the Senate : 

The submarine is no longer a serious menace to transportation across 
the seas. It is, of course, an annoyance and a great hindrance, and as 
long as there is a single submarine in the waters of the sea every effort 
must be made by the allied powers to destroy it, for it is an outlaw and 
must not exist. The truth is that Germany never had more than 320 sub- 
marines all told, including all construction before and since the war. 

We have positive knowledge of the destruction of more than one-half 
of these submarines, and we also know that it is practically impossible 
for Germany to keep in operation more than 10 per cent of those remain- 



THE PIRATES OF THE UNDER-SEAS 633 

ing. It is therefore reduced to a negligible quantity so far as its ultimate 
e^ect upon the result of the war is concerned. 

T saw a reliable statement in France to the effect that there is one ship 
of some character leaving the eastern shores of America for the war zone 
every six minutes, and it is only a few vessels which are ever torpedoed, 
estimated at about one per cent. This is less than the loss by storm and 
accident in the earlier days of transportation and is not much greater 
than such loss now. We must bear in mind that we read only of the ships 
which have been torpedoed and see but little account of the hundreds of 
ships which pass over the ocean safely and undisturbed. Three hundred 
thousand soldiers are conveyed across the Atlantic every thirty days, 
and an average of about 500,000 tons of freight carried to the French 
coast. There are warehouses in only one of the many ports of France 
with a capacity of over 2,000,000 tons. 

It is to the navy that the credit for the destruction of this outlaw 
seagoing craft is due. The navy is and has been the backbone of this war, 
the same as it has been of almost every great v/ar in history. Without 
the allied navy the submarine would have perhaps accomplished its nefar- 
ious purpose in starving the European allies and in preventing them from 
securing the necessary munitions of war to defend themselves. It has 
utterly failed in this respect. The Allies are amply supplied with food, 
and there are provisions enough on hand now, if every ship should be 
sunk, to last the Allies and armies for months. The destroyer is the 
ship which has brought Germany to her knees in submarine warfare and 
will keep her there. We have not enough destroj^ers, and it is for this 
reason we are obliged in this great transportation problem to run risks 
which would not be taken under ordinary conditions. If every ship 
was escorted by a sufficient number of destroyers I doubt if there would 
be a single ship of any consequence sunk, except by the merest accident. 

Upon the same subject, Sir Eric Geddes, First Lord of the 
British Admiralty, on October 14th, reviewing the British effort 
in the war said that during 1918 the casualties of the British on 
the western front equaled those of all the Allies combined. The 
British navy, he said, since the beginning of the war had lost in 
fighting ships of all classes a total of 230, more than twdce the losses 
in war vessels of all the Allies. 

In addition to these. Great Britain had lost 450 auxiliary craft, 
such as mine-sweepers and trawlers, making a total of 680. He 
revealed the fact that the effective warship barrage, which had 
been drawn between the Orkneys and Norway against German 
submarines and surface craft, was, during the later months of the 
war, maintained largely by ships of the United States. 

The British merchant ships lost since 1914 exceeded 2,400, 



634 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR 

representing a gross tonnage of 7,750,000, nearly three times the 
aggregate loss of all other alHed and neutral countries. 
In his statement on the submarine situation he said: 

In February, 1917, the ruthless submarine warfare confronted us, 
whilst the armies in France at that time were feeling a sense of superiority 
over the enemy which was illustrated by the successes of the battle of 
Arras, the taking of Vimy Ridge, the advance between the Ancre and the 
Somme, the offensive in Champagne, Chemin des Dames, Messines and 
Passchendaele Ridges. Thus we felt, and rightly felt, that the weakest 
front at that time was the sea — not on the surface, but under water. 

The whole of the available energies of the Allies were consequently 
thrown into overcoming the submarine and the menace which threatened 
to destroy the Unes of communication of the Alliance. The reduced 
sinkings which have been published since that period show how we grad- 
ually overcame that menace — and today most men say that the sub- 
marine menace is a thing of the past. 

That it is a thing of the past in so far as it can never win the war'^for 
the enemy or enable the enemy to prevent us from winning the war, 
provided we do not underrate the danger but take adequate steps against 
it, I affirm now as the opinion of the British Admiralty; but it is a menace 
that comes and goes. 

The end of the great submarine menace came on November 
20th, when twenty German submarines were officially surrendered 
to Rear-Admiral Tyrwhitt of the British Navy, thirty miles off 
Harwich, England. Within the following week more than eighty 
other German submarines and a number of Austrian craft were 
also surrendered to the British. The spectacle of the surrender 
was most impressive. 

After steaming some twenty miles across the North Sea, the 
Harwich forces, which consisted of five light cruisers and twenty 
destroyers, were sighted. The flagship of Admiral Tyrwhitt, the 
commander, was the Curasao. High above about the squadron 
hung a big observation balloon. 

The squadron, headed by the flagship, then steamed toward 
the Dutch coast, foUow^ed by the Coventry, Dragoon, Danal and 
Centaur. Other ships followed in Hne with their na\dgation lights 
showing. The picture was a noble one as the great vessels, with 
the moon still shining, plowed their way to take part in the sur- 
render of the German U-boats. 

Soon after the British squadron started the '' paravanes" 
were dropped overboard. These devices are shaped like tops and 



THE PIRATES OF THE UNDER-SEAS 635 

divert any iriines which tnay be encountered, for the vessels were 
now entering a mine field. 

Almost everyone on board donned a life belt and just as the 
red sun appeared above the horizon the first German submarine 
appeared in sight. 

Soon after seven o'clock twenty submarines were seen in line, 
accompanied by two German destroyers, the Tibania and the 
Sierra Ventana, which were to take the submarine crews back to 
Germany after the transfer. 

All the submarines were on the surface with their hatches open 
and their crews standing on deck. The vessels were flying no 
flags whatever and their guns were trained fore and aft, in accord- 
ance with the terms of surrender. 

A bugle sounded on the Curagao and all the gun crews took 
up their stations, ready for any possible treachery. 

The leading destroyer, in response to a signal from the admiral, 
turned and led the way towards England and the submarines 
were ordered to follow. They immediately did so. The surrender 
had been accompUshed. 

Each cruiser turned, and, keeping a careful lookout, steamed 
toward Harwich. On the deck of one of the largest of the sub- 
marines, which carried two 5.9 guns, twenty-three officers and men 
were counted. The craft was estimated to be nearly 300 feet in 
length. Its number had been painted out. 

Near the Ship "Wash lightship three large British seaplanes, 
followed by an airship, were observed. One of the submarines was 
seen to send up a couple of carrier pigeons and at once a signal 
was flashed from the admiral that it had no right to do this. 

When the ships had cleared the mine field and entered the 
war channel the '^ paravanes" were hauled aboard. On reaching a 
point some twenty miles off Harwich the ships dropped anchor and 
Captain Addison went out on the warship Maidstone. 

British crews were then put on board the submarines to take 
them into harbor. With the exception of the engine staffs all the 
German sailors remained on deck. The submarines were then 
taken through the gates of the harbor and the German crews 
were transferred to the transports and taken back to Germany. 

As the boats went through the gates a white signal was run 
up on each of them with the German flag underneath. 



636 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR 

Each German submarine commander at the transfer was 
required to sign a declaration to the effect that his vessel was in 
running order, that its periscope was intact, that its torpedoes 
were unloaded and that its torpedo heads were safe. 

Orders had been issued forbidding any demonstration and 
these instructions were obeyed to the letter. There was complete 
silence as the submarines surrendered and as the crews were 
transferred. 

On November 21st, the German High Seas fleet that had 
been protected by the submarines surrendered to the combined 
fleet consisting of British, American and French battleships. 
The British admiralty's terse statement concerning the historic 
spectacle follows: 

The commander-in-chief of the Grand Fleet has reported that at 
9.30 o'clock this morning he met the first and main installment of the 
German high seas fleet, which is surrendering for internment. Admiral 
Sir David Beatty is Commander-in-chief of the Grand Fleet. 

On the same day another flotilla of German U-boats also was 
surrendered to a British squadron. There were nineteen sub- 
marines in all; the twentieth broke down on the way. 

The Grand Fleet, accompanied by five American battleships 
and three French cruisers, steamed out at 3 o'clock on the morning 
of November 21st, from its Scottish base to accept the surrender. 
The vessels moved in two long columns. 

The German fleet which surrendered consisted of nine battle- 
ships, five cruisers, seven light cruisers and fifty destroyers. 
Seventy-one vessels in all. There remained to be surrendered two 
battleships, which were under repair, and fifty modern torpedo- 
boat destroyers. 

One German destroyer while on its way across the North Sea 
with the other ships of the German High Seas fleet to surrender 
struck a mine. It was so badly damaged that it sank. 

Describing the surrender of the German warships to Sir David 
Beatty, the Commander-in-Chief of the grand fleet, correspondents 
said that after all the German ships had been taken over, the British 
admiral went through the line on the Queen EHzabeth, every 
Allied vessel being manned and greeting the admiral and the flag- 
ship with loud and ringing cheers. 

The British grand fleet put to sea in two single lines six miles 




Courtesy of Joseph A. Steinmetz, Phila. 

THE EYE OF THE BLIND SUBMARINE 

Diagram of a periscope, showing how, when its tip is Ufted out of water, a picture of 
the sea's surface is reflected downward from a prism, through lenses, and then a lower 
prism, hence to the officer's eye. It turns in any airection. 



The pirates of the under-seas eso 

apart, and so formed as to enable the surrendering fleet to come 
up the center. The leading ship of the German Une was sighted 
between 9 and 10 o'clock in the morning. It was the Seydhtz, 
flying the German naval ensign. 

A telegram received in Amsterdam from Berlin gave this list 
of surrendered warships, which includes one more battleship than 
later reports showed : 

Battleships — Kaiser, 24,113 tons; Kaiserin, 24,113 tons; 
Koenig Albert, 24,113 tons; Kronprinz Wilhelm, 25,000 tons; 
Prinzregent Luitpold, 24,113 tons; Markgraf, 25,293 tons; Grosser 
Kurfuerst, 25,293 tons; Bayern, 28,000 tons; Koenig, 25,293 tons, 
and Friedrich der Grosse, 24,113. :• 

Battle Cruisers— Hindenburg, 27,000 tons ; Derflinger, 28,000 
tons; Seydhtz, 25,000 tons; Moltke, 23,000 tons, and Von Der 
Tann, 18,800 tons. 

Light Cruisers — Bremen, 4,000 tons; Brummer, 4,000 tons; 
Frankfurt, 5,400 tons; Koeln, tonnage uncertain; Dresden, tonnage 
uncertain, and Emden, 5,400 tons. 




CHAPTER LI 

Approaching the Final Stage 

'HE might and pride of Germany were smashed and humbled 
by Foch in frontal attacks divided roughly into three great 
sectors. The first of these attacks was delivered by the 
French and Americans in the southern sector which included 
Verdun and the Argonne. The second smash was delivered by 
British, French and Americans in the Cambrai sector. The third 
was delivered by British, Belgians, French and Americans in the 
Belgian sector on the north of the great battle line. 

The Cambrai operation had as its first objectives the possession 
of the strategic railways both of which ran from Valenciennes, one 
to the huge distribution center at Douai; the other to Cambrai 
itself. To reach these objectives the Alhes were obliged to cross 
the Sensee and the Escaut canals under infantry and artillery fire. 
Besides these natural obstacles, there was the famous Hunding line 
of fortifications erected by the Germans between the Scarpe and the 
Oise River. 

The attack v/as opened in force on September 18, 1918, by 
the Fourth British army under General Rawlinson and the First 
French army under General Debeney. The assault was successful 
northwest of St. Quentin and determined German counter-attacks 
were broken down by French and British artillery fire. 

The Third British army under General Byng and the Thirtieth 
American division co-operating with the First British army under 
Sir Henry Home, attacked furiously over a fourteen-mile front 
toward Cambrai. The net result of this operation was the possession 
of the Canal du Nord, the taking of several villages, and 6,000 prison- 
ers. This was on September 27th. The following day the same forces 
captured Fontaine-Notre Dame, Marcoing, Noyelles, and Cantaing. 
More than 200 guns were captured and 10,000 prisoners. On 
September 29th the Americans took Bellecourt and Nauroy, and 
invested the suburbs of Cambrai. The British crossed the Escaut 

640 



APPROACHING THE FINAL STAGE 641 

canal and the Canadians penetrated some of the environs of 
Cambrai. 

The resolution and ferocity of the attack thoroughly dismayed 
the Germans, and the saUent produced by the smash forced the 
Teutons to evacuate the greatly prized Lens coal fields on October 
3d. Home and Byng continued their advance, the former occu- 
pying Biache-St. Vaast southwest of Douai, and the latter reaching 
a position five miles northwest of Cambrai. 

Caught between the jaws of the pincers, the German forces 
occupying Cambrai made haste to escape outright capture. The 
city that had been the objective of British hopes and thrusts for 
two years, fell into the hands of the Alhes. The German retreat 
extended over a thirty-mile front and included both St. Quentin 
and Cambrai. Simultaneously the German forces between Arras 
and St. Quentin fell steadily backward. Le Cateau and Zazeuel 
fell into the hands of the British October 17th, three thousand 
prisoners and a quantity of war material being included in the bag. 

In the meantime General Mangin attacking in the Laon sector, 
drove the Germans from the strategic Chemin des Dames and with 
General Berthelot captured Berry-au-Bac, the St. Gobain massif 
and completed contact with Generals Pershing and Gouraud on 
the right and with Generals RawHnson and Debeney on the left. 

The Allied advance now became a huge steel broom, sweeping 
the Germans irresistibly before it. The operation extended from 
the Oise southeast to the Aisne, broadening thence until it included 
the entire front. The Hindenburg hne, the Sonune battle-field, 
the Hunding line, were all quickly overrun. The fortress of 
Maubeuge, fifty miles northeast of St. Quentin, which was con- 
nected with that city by a triple railway connection, was evacuated 
as a direct result of this operation. 

When St. Quentin itself fell into the hands of Debeney, it 
was found that the Germans had deported the entire civilian popu- 
lation of 50,000. 

This was the crux of the operations by Foch. Germans were 
given no rest; night and day the pressure continued. Every clash 
showed the increasing superiority of the Allies both in men and 
material and the corresponding deterioration of the German forces. 
This demoralization of the Germans extended from the High Com- 
mand to the private soldier. Prisoners poured into the hands of 



642 HISTORY 0¥ THE WORLD WAR 

the Allies. Evacuation of Lille was commenced on October 2d 
and Roubaix and Tiu-coing also fell. 

It was the beginning of Germany's miUtary debacle. The 
time was ripe for the coup-de-gr^ce soon to be delivered by Ameri- 
cans co-operating with the AlHes on a seventy-one mile front. 

The Kaiser, Ludendorf and von Hindenburg abandoned hope. 
The command went forth from the German general headquarters to 
retreat, retreat, retreat, while Prince Maximilian of Baden appealed 
to America for an armistice. The sword in Germany's hand was 
broken. Autocracy, defeated in the eyes of its deluded subjects and 
discredited in the eyes of the world, was in headlong flight. Its 
only concern was to save as much as possible from the ruins of the 
ostentatious temple it had reared. 



* CHAPTER LII 



Last Days of the War 



FROM November 1st until November 11th, the day when 
the armistice granting terms to Germany was signed, the 
collapse of the German defensive was complete. The 
army that under von Hindenburg and Ludendorf had 
smashed its way over Poland, Roumania, Serbia, Belgium, and into 
the heart of France, was now a military machine in full retreat. 
It is only justice to that machine to say that the great retreat 
at no place degenerated into a rout. Von Hindenburg and the 
German General Staff had planned a series of rear-guard actions 
that were effective in protecting the main bodies of infantry and 
artillery. Machine-gun nests and airplane attacks were the main 
rehance of the Germans in these maneuvers of delay, but the 
German field artillery also did its share. 

Immense quantities of material and many thousands of 
prisoners were captured by the British, Canadians and Australians 
in the north, and by the French and Americans in the south. 
Simultaneously v/ith this wide and savage drive upon the Germans 
along the Belgian and French fronts, came the heaviest Italian 
attack of the war. Before it the Austrians wxre swept in a torrent 
that was irresistible. French, EngUsh and American troops 
co-operated in this thrust that extended from the plains of the 
Piave into Trentino. The immediate effect of the Italian offensive 
was to force Austria to her knees in abject surrender. An armis- 
tice, humiUating in its terms, was signed by the Austrian repre- 
sentatives, and the back door to Germany was opened to the 
AUies. 

Germany's frantic plea for an armistice followed. There 
were those in the Allied countries who maintained that nothing 
short of unconditional surrender should be permitted. Cooler 
counsel prevailed, and an armistice was offered to the German 
High Command through General Foch, the terms of which far 
exceeded in severity those granted to Turkey and Austria. These 

643 



644 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR 

were read for the first time by Germany's representatives on Friday, 
November 8th. General Foch, when he gave the document to the 
German delegation, declared that Germany's decision must be 
made within seventy-two hours. Eleven o'clock on Monday, 
November 11th, was the time limit permitted to Germany. The 
armistice was signed by General Foch and the German repre- 
sentatives on the morning of November 11th, but fighting did not 
actually cease until eleven o'clock, several hours after the terms 
had been agreed to. This was in accordance with arrangement 
made between the signers. 

Sedan, where Marshals McMahon and Bazaine, commanding 
the armies of Napoleon III, surrendered to the King of Prussia in 
1870, marked the last notable victory of the American forces in 
France. The Sedan of 1870 marked the birth of German milita- 
rism. The Sedan of 1918 marked its death. 

Preceding the advance of the Americans upon Sedan, came a 
cloud of aviators in pursuit and bombing planes, headed by the 
famous aces of the American forces. The First and Second divisions 
of the First army led the way. In the van of the Second division 
were the Marines, whose heroism in Belleau Wood marked the 
beginning of Germany's end. The famous Rainbow division 
made the most savage thrust of the action, pursuing the foe for 
ten miles and sweeping the Freya Hills clear of machine nests and 
German artillery. 

The last action of the war for the Americans followed imme- 
diately on the heels of the battle of Sedan. It was the taking of the 
town of Stenay. The engagement was deliberately planned by 
the Americans as a sort of battle celebration of the end of the war. 
The order fixing eleven o'clock as the time for the conclusion of 
hostilities, had been sent from end to end of the American lines. 
Its text follows : 

1. You are infomied that hostilities will cease along the whole front 
at 11 o'clock A. M., November 11, 1918, Paris time. 

2. No Allied troops will pass the line reached by them at that hour 
in date until further orders. 

3. Division commanders will immediately sketch the location of 
their line. This sketch will be returned to headquarters by the courier 
bearing these orders. 

4. All communication with the enemy, both before and after the 
termination of hostilities, is absolutely forbidden. In case of violation of 



LAST DAYS OF THE WAR 645 

this order severest disciplinary measures will be immediately taken. Any 
officer offending will be sent to headquarters under guard. 

5. Every emphasis will be laid on the fact that the arrangement is an 
armistice only and not a peace. 

6. There must not be the slightest relaxation of vigilance. Troops 
must be prepared at any moment for further operations. 

7. Special steps will be taken by all commanders to insure strictest 
discipline and that all troops be held in readiness fully prepared for any 
eventuality. 

8. Division and brigade commanders will personally communicate 
these orders to all organizations. 

Signal corps wires, telephones and runners were used in carry- 
ing the orders and so well did the big machine work that even 
patrol commanders had received the orders well in advance of the 
hour. Apparently the Germans also had been equally dihgent in 
getting the orders to the front line. Notwithstanding the hard 
fighting they did Sunday to hold back the Americans, the Ger- 
mans were able to bring the firing to an abrupt end at the scheduled 
hour. 

The staff and field officers of the American army were disposed 
early in the day to approach the hour of eleven with lessened 
activity. The day began with less firing and doubtless the fight- 
ing would have ended according to plan, had there not been a 
sharp resumption on the part of German batteries. The Americans 
looked upon this as wantonly useless. It was then that orders 
were sent to the battery commanders for increased fire. 

Although there was no reason for it, German ruthlessness was 
still rampant Sunday, stirring the American artillery in the region 
of Dun-sur-Meuse and Mouzay to greater activity. Six hundred 
aged men and w^omen and children were in Mouzay when the 
Germans attacked it with gas. There was only a small detach- 
ment of American troops there and the town no longer was of 
strategical value. However, it was made the direct target of 
shells filled with phosgene. Every street reeked with gas. 

Poorly clad and showing plainly evidences of malnutrition, 
the inhabitants crowded about the Americans, kissing their hands 
and haihng them as dehverers. They declared they had had no 
meat for six weeks. They virtually had been prisoners of war for 
four years and were overwhelmed with joy when they learned 
that an armistice was probable. 



646 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR 

The last French town to fall into American hands before the 
armistice went into effect was Stenay. Patrols reported they had 
found it empty not more than a quarter of an hour before eleven 
o'clock. American troops rushed through the town and in a few 
minutes Allied flags were beginning to appear from the windows. 
As the church bell solemnly tolled the hour of eleven, troops from 
the Ninetieth division were pouring into the town. 

The inhabitants told the usual stories of German treatment. 
They were forced to work at all sorts of tasks from seven in the 
morning until six at night. In return they received paper bills 
with which they were unable to purchase milk and similar necessi- 
ties. The majority, however, were so overjoyed at their deliver- 
ance that they were almost incoherent in discussing the enemy 
occupation. 

The inhabitants of Stenay remained hiding in their cellars 
even after the Americans had entered the town. They came out 
hesitatingly and in small groups. 

Hostihties along the American front ended with a crash of 
cannon. 

The early forenoon had been marked by a falling off in fire all 
along the line, but an increasing bombardment from the retreat- 
ing Germans at certain points stimulated the Americans to a 
quick retort. From their positions north of Stenay to southeast 
of the town the Americans began to bombard fixed targets. The 
firing reached a volume at times almost equivalent to a barrage. 

Two minutes before eleven o'clock the firing dwindled, the 
last shells shrieking over No Man's Land precisely on time. 

There was little celebration on the front line, where American 
routine was scarcely disturbed over the cessation of fighting. In 
the areas behind the battle zone there were celebrations on all 
sides. Here and there there were little outbursts of cheering, but 
even those instances were not on the immediate front. 

Many of the French soldiers went about singing. 

"Well, I don't know," drawled a Heutenant from Texas while 
the artillery was sending its last challenge to the Germans, "but 
somehow I can't help wondering if we have licked them enough." 

The Germans were manifestly so glad over the cessation of 
hostilities that they could not conceal their pleasure. Prisoners 
taken at Stenay grinned with satisfaction. Their demeanor was in 



LAST DAYS OF THE WAR 647 

sharp contrast to that of the American doughboys who took the 
matter philosophically and went about their appointed tasks. 

In the front line it was the same. The Americans were happy, 
but quiet. They made no demonstrations. The Germans, on the 
other hand, were in a regular hysteria of joy. They waited only 
until nightfall to set off every rocket in their possession. In the 
evening the sky was ablaze with red, green, blue and yellow flares 
all along the line. 

Flags appeared like magic over the shell-torn buildings of 
Verdun, French and American colors flying side by side. 

In every village, even those from which the Germans had 
been driven, there were flags and decorations which were brought 
up to the front by the soldiers. In the villages back of the line 
there were impromptu celebrations and the civilians in holiday 
spirit saluted the Americans, shouting 'Hhe war is finished." 

Northeast of Verdun, just before 11 o'clock, American artillery- 
men in loading a six-inch howitzer, wrote ''good luck" on a ninety- 
pound shell and '4et 'er go." The shot was aimed at the cross- 
road at Ornas, just ahead of the American lines. 

While the bells of the ancient Verdun Cathedral were ringing 
the news of peace the fortress city was illuminated and a military 
procession headed by the drum corps of the Twenty-sixth American 
division swung along the crowded streets accompanied by a French 
detachment of buglers representing the famed defenders of Verdun. 

Only a half hour before the Germans had thrown large shells 
within the city walls, apparently as a reminder that Verdun was 
still within the range of their guns to the hills to the northeast. 

Monday afternoon and night virtually was the first time that 
Verdun had not been shelled in many hours almost since the war 
began. 




CHAPTER LIII 

The Dkastic Terms of Surrender 

^HE end of the war came with almost the dramatic sudden- 
ness of its beginning. Bulgaria, hemmed in by armies 
through which no relief could penetrate, asked for terms. 
The reply came in two words, '' Unconditional Surrender." 

Turkey, witnessing the rout of her army in Palestine by the 
great strategist. General AUenby, and a British army, asked for 
an armistice. The Porte signed without hesitation an agreement 
comprising twenty-five severe requirements. 

The surrender of Bulgaria and Turkey forced Austria's hand. 
The terms under which it was permitted to capitulate were even 
harder than those granted to Turkey. They comprised eighteen 
requirements divided into military and naval clauses. 

Germany, proud, imperial Germany, met the greatest humilia- 
tion of all the Teutonic allies when the Kaiser and the German 
High Command were brought to their knees. Thirty-five clauses, 
the most severe and drastic ever demanded from a great power, 
were included in the armistice agreement. Only the inmainent 
menace of an invasion of Germany would have sufficed to compel 
the German representatives to sign such a document. Following 
are the drafts of the Turkish, Austrian and German armistice 
agreements. 

THE TURKISH AGREEMENT 

1. The opening of the Dardanelles and the Bosporus and access 
to the Black Sea. Allied occupation of the Dardanelles and Bosporus 
forts. 

2. The positions of all mine fields, torpedo tubes and other obstruc- 
tions in Turkish waters are to be indicated, and assistance given to sweep 
or remove them, as may be required. 

3. All available information concerning mines in the Black Sea is to 
be communicated. 

4. All Allied prisoners of war and Armenian interned persons and 
prisoners are to be collected in Constantinople and handed over uncon- 
ditionally to the Allies. 

648 



THE DRASTIC TERMS OF SURRENDER 649 

5. Immediate demobilization of the Turkish aTmy, except such troops 
as are required for surveillance on the frontiers and for the maintenance 
of internal order. The number of effectives and their disposition to be 
determined later by the Allies. 

6. The surrender of all war vessels in Turkish waters or waters 
occupied by Turkey. These ships will be interned in such Turkish port 
or ports as may be directed, except such small vessels as are required for 
pohce and similar purposes in Turkish territorial waters. 

7. The Allies to have the right to occupy any strategic points in the 
event of any situation arising which threatens the security of the Allies. 

8. Use by Allied ships of all ports and anchorages now in Turkish 
occupation and denial of their use by the enemy. Similar conditions 
are to apply to Turkish mercantile sliipping in Turkish waters for the 
purposes of trade and the demobilization of the army. 

9. Allied occupation of the Taurus Tunnel system. 

10. Immediate withdrawal of Turkish troops from Northern Persia 
to behind the pre-war frontier already has been ordered and will be 
carried out. 

11. A part of Transcaucasia already has been ordered to be evacuated 
by Turkish troops. The remainder to be evacuated, if required by the 
Allies, after they have studied the situation. 

12. Wireless, telegraph and cable stations to be controlled by the 
Allies. Turkish Government messages to be excepted. 

13. Prohibition against the destruction of any naval, military or 
commercial material. 

14. Facilities are to be given for the purchase of coal, oil, fuel and 
naval material from Turkish sources, after the requirements of the coun- 
try have been met. None of the above materials are to be exported. 

15. The surrender of all Turkish offices in Tripolitania and Cyre- 
naica to the nearest Italian garrison. Turkey agrees to stop supplies 
and communication with these officers if they do not obey the order to 
surrender. 

16. The surrender of all garrisons in Hedjaz, Assir, Yemen, Syria 
and Mesopotamia to the nearest Allied commander, and withdrawal of 
Turkish troops from Cilicia, except those necessary to maintain order, as 
will be determined under Clause 6. 

17. The use of all ships and repair facilities at all Turkish ports and 
arsenals. 

18. The surrender of all ports occupied in Tripolitania and Cyre- 
naica, including Mizurata, to the nearest Allied garrison. 

19. All Germans and Austrians, naval, military or civilian, to be 
evacuated within one month from Turlcish dominions, and those in remote 
districts as soon after that time as may be possible. 

20. Compliance with such orders as may be conveyed for the disposal 
of equipment, arms and ammunition, including the transport of that 
portion of the Turkish army which is demobilized under Clause 5. 



650 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR 

21. An Allied representative to be attached to the Turkish Ministry 
of Supplies in order to safeguard Allied interests. This representative to 
be furnished with all aid necessary for this purpose. 

22. Turkish prisoners are to be kept at the disposal of the Allied 
Powers. The release of Turkish civilian prisoners and prisoners over 
mihtary age is to be considered. 

23. An obligation on the part of Turkey to cease all relations with 
the Central Powers. 

24. In case of disorder in the six Armenian vilayets the Allies reserve 
to themselves the right to occupy any part of them. 

25. HostiHties between the Allies and Turkey shall cease from noon, 
local time, Thursday, the 31st of October, 1918. 

THE AUSTRIAN AGREEMENT 
Military Clauses 

1. The immediate cessation of hostilities by land, sea and air. 

2. Total demobilization of the Austro-Hungarian army and imme- 
diate withdrawal of all Austro-Hungarian forces operating on the front 
from the North Sea to Switzerland. Within Austro-Hungarian territory, 
limited as in Clause 3 below, there shall only be maintained as an 
organized military force reduced to pre-war effectiveness. Half the 
divisional, corps and army artillery and equipment shall be collected at 
points to be indicated by the Allies and United States of America for 
delivery to them, beginning with all such material as exists in the territories 
to be evacuated by the Austro-Hungarian forces. 

3. Evacuation of all territories invaded by Austro-Hungary since the 
beginning of the war. Withdrawal within such periods as shall be deter- 
mined by the commander-in-chief of the Allied forces on each front of the 
Austro-Hungarian armies behind a line fixed as follows: — 

From Pic Umbrail to the north of the Stelivo it will follow the crest 
of the Rhetian Alps up to the sources of the Adige and the Eisach, passing 
thence by Mounts Reschen and Brenner and the heights of Oetz and 
Zoaller. The line thence turns south, crossing Mount Toblach and meeting 
the present frontier Carnic Alps. It follows this frontier up to Mount 
Tarvis and after Mount Tarvis the watershed of the Julian Alps by the 
Col of Predil, Mount Mangart, the Terglou and the watershed of the 
Cols di Podberdo, Podlaniscam and Idria. From this point the line turns 
southeast towards the Schneeberg, excludes the whole basin of the Save 
and its tributaries. From Schneeberg it goes down towards the coast in 
such a way as to include Castua, Mattuglia and Volosca in the evacuated 
territories. 

It will also follow the administrative limits of the present province of 
Dalmatia, including the north Lisarica and Trivania and, to the south, 
territory limited by a line from the Semigrand of Cape Planca to the 
summits of the watersheds eastwards, so as to include in the evacuated area 
all the valleys and water course flowing towards Sebenaco, such as the 



THE DRASTIC TERMS OF SURRENDER 651 

Cicola, Kerka, Butisnica and their tributaries. It will also include all the 
islands in the north and west of Dalmatia from Premuda, Selve, Ulbo, 
Scherda, Maon, Paga and Puntadura in the north up to Meleda in the 
south, embracing Santandrea, Busi, Lisa, Lesina, Tercola, Curzola, Cazza 
and Lagosta, as well as the neighboring rocks and islets and pressages, 
only excepting the islands of Great and Small Zirona, Bua, Solta and 
Brazza. All territory thus evacuated shall be occupied by the forces of 
the Allies and of the United States of America. 

All military and railway equipment of all kinds, including coal belong- 
ing or within those territories, to be left in situ and surrendered to the 
Allies, according to special orders given by the commander-in-chief of 
the forces of the associated Powers on the different fronts. No new 
destruction, pillage or requisition to be done by enemy troops in the 
territories to be evacuated by them and occupied by the forces of the 
associated Powers. 

4. The Allies shall have the right of free movement over all road and 
rail and waterways in Austro-Hungarian territory and of the use of the 
necessary Austrian and Hungarian means of transportation. The armies 
of the associated Powers shall occupy such strategic points in Austria- 
Hungary at times as they may deem necessary to enable them to conduct 
military operations or to maintain order. They shall have the right of 
requisition on payment for the troops of the associated Powers whatever 
they may be. 

5. Complete evacuation of all German troops within fifteeji days not 
only from the Italian and Balkan fronts, but from all Austro-Hungarian 
territory. Internment of all German troops which have not left Austro- 
Hungary within the date. 

6. The administration of the evacuated territories of Austria-Hungary 
will be entrusted to the local authorities under the control of the Allied 
and associated armies of occupation. 

7. The immediate repatriation without reciprocity of all Allied 
prisoners of war and internal subjects and of civil populations evacuated 
from their homes on conditions to be laid down by the commander-in-chief 
of the forces of the associated Powers on the various fronts. Sick and 
wounded who cannot be removed from evacuated territory will be cared 
for by Austria-Hungary personnel, who will be left on the spot with the 
medical material required. 

Naval Clauses 

1. Immediate cessation of all hostilities at sea and definite information 
to be given as to the location and movements of all Austro-Hungarian 
ships. Notification to be made to neutrals that freedom of navigation in 
all territorial waters is given to the naval and mercantile marine of the 
Allied and associated Powers, all questions of neutrality being waived. 

2. Surrender to Allies and the United States of fifteen Austro- 
Hungarian subroarmes completed between the years 1910 and 1918 and 



65^ HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR 

of all German submarines which are in or may hereafter enter Austro- 
Hungarian territorial waters. All other Austro-Hungarian submarines 
to be paid off and completely disarmed and to remain under the super- 
vision of the Allies and United States. 

3. Surrender to Allies and United States with their complete armament 
and equipment of three battleships, three light cruisers, nine destroyers, 
twelve torpedo boats, one mine layer, six Danube monitors, to be designated 
by the Allies and United States of America. All other surface warships, 
including river craft, are to be concentrated in Austro-Hungarian naval 
bases to be designated by the Allies and United States of America and are 
to be paid off and completely disarmed and placed under the supervision 
of AlHes and United States of America. 

4. Freedom of navigation to all warships and merchant ships of 
Allied and associated Powers to be given in the Adriatic and up the River 
Danube and its tributaries in the territorial waters and territory of Austria- 
Hungary. The Allies and associated Powers shall have the right to sweep 
up all mine fields and obstructions, and the positions of these are to be 
indicated. In order to insure the freedom of navigation on the Danube, 
the Allies and the United States of America shall be empowered to occupy 
or to dismantle all fortifications or defense work. 

5. The existing blockade conditions set up by the Allied and associated 
Powers are to remain unchanged and all Austro-Hungarian merchant 
ships found at sea are to remain liable to capture, save exceptions may be 
made by a commission nominated by the Allies and the United States of 
America. 

6. All naval aircraft are to be concentrated and impactionized in 
Austro-Hungarian bases to be designated by the Allies and United States 
of America. 

7. Evacuation of all the Italian coasts and of all ports occupied by 
Austria-Hungary outside their national territory and the abandonment of 
all floating craft, naval materials, equipment and materials for inland 
navigation of all kinds. 

8. Occupation by the Allies and the United States of America of the 
land and sea fortifications and the islands which form the defenses and 
of the dockyards and arsenal at Pola. 

9. All merchant vessels held by Austria-Hungary belonging to the 
Allies and associated Powers to be returned. 

10. No destruction of ships or of materials to be permitted before 
evacuation, surrender or restoration. 

11. All naval and mercantile marine prisoners of the Allied and 
associated Powers in Austro-Himgarian hands to be returned without 
reciprocity. 

THE GERMAN AGREEMENT 

1. Cessation of operations by land and in the air six hours after the 
signature of the armistice. 



THE DRASTIC TERMS OF SURRENDER 65S 

2. Immediate evacuation of invaded countries: Belgium, France, 
Alsace-Lorraine, Luxemburg, so ordered as to be completed within fourteen 
days from the signature of the armistice. German troops which have not 
left the above-mentioned territories within the period fixed will become 
prisoners of war. Occupation by the Allied and United States forces 
jointly will keep pace with evacuation in these areas. All movements 
of evacuation and occupation will be regulated in accordance with a note 
annexed to the stated terms. 

3. Repatriation beginning at once and to be completed within fifteen 
days of all inhabitants of the countries above mentioned, including 
hostages and persons under trial or convicted. 

4. Surrender in good condition by the German armies of the follow- 
ing equipment: Five thousand guns (two thousand five hundred heavy, 
two thousand five hundred field), twenty-five thousand machine guns, 
three thousand minenwerfers, seventeen hundred airplanes. The above 
to be delivered in situ to the Allies and the United States troops in accord- 
ance with the detailed conditions laid down in the annexed note. 

5. Evacuation by the German armies of the countries on the left 
bank of the Rhine. These countries on the left bank of the Rhine shall 
be administered by the local troops of occupation under the control of the 
Allied and United States armies of occupation. The occupation of these 
territories will be carried out by Allied and United States garrisons holding 
the principal crossings of the Rhine, Mayence, Coblenz, Cologne, together 
with bridgeheads at these points in thirty kilometer radius on the right 
bank and by garrisons similarly holding the strategic points of the regions. 

A neutral zone shall be reserved on the right of the Rhine between 
the stream and a line drawn parallel to it forty kilometers (twenty-six 
miles) to the east from the frontier of Holland to the parallel of Gernsheim 
and as far as practicable a distance of thirty kilometers (twenty miles) 
from the east of stream from this parallel upon Swiss frontier. Evacuation 
by the enemy of the Rhine lands shall be so ordered as to be completed 
within a further period of sixteen days, in all thirty-one days after the 
signature of the armistice. All movements of evacuation and occupation 
will be regulated according to the note annexed. 

6. In all territory evacuated by the enemy there shall be no evacuation 
of inhabitants; no damage or harm shall be done to the persons or property 
of the inhabitants. No destruction of any kind to be committed. Military 
establishments of all kinds shall be delivered as weU as military stores of 
food, munitions, equipment not removed during the periods fixed for 
evacuation. Stores of food of all kinds for the civil population, cattle, 
etc., shall be left in situ. Industrial establishments shall not be impaired 
in any way and their personnel shall not be moved. Roads and means 
of communication of every kind, railroad, waterways, main roads, bridges, 
telegraphs, telephones, shall be in no manner impaired. No person shall 
be prosecuted for offenses of participation in war measures prior to the 
signing of the armistice. 



654 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR 

7. All civil and military personnel at present employed on them 
shall remain. Five thousand locomotives, one hundred fifty thousand 
wagons and five thousand motor lorries in good working order with all 
necessary spare parts and fittings shall be dehvered to the associated 
Powers withiQ the period fixed for the evacuation of Belgium and Luxem- 
burg. The railways of Alsace-Lorraine shall be handed over within thirty- 
six days, together with all pre-war personnel and material. Further 
material necessary for the working of railways in the country on the 
left bank of the Rhine shall be left in situ. All stores of coal and material 
for the upkeep of permanent ways, signals and repair shops left entire 
in situ and kept in an efficient state by Germany during the whole period 
of armistice. All barges taken from the AUies shall be restored to them. 
All civil and military personnel at present employed on such means of 
communication and transporting including waterways shall remain. 

8. The German command shall be responsible for revealing within 
forty-eight hours all mines or delay acting fuses disposed on territory 
evacuated by the German troops and shall assist in their discovery and 
destruction. The German command shall also reveal all destructive 
measures that may have been taken (such as poisoning or polluting of 
springs, wells, etc.) under penalty of reprisals. 

9. The right of requisition shall be exercised by the Allies and the 
United States armies in all occupied territory, "subject to regulation of 
accounts with those whom it may concern." The upkeep of the troops of 
occupation in the Rhine land (excluding Alsace-Lorraine) shall be charged 
to the German Government. 

10. An immediate repatriation without reciprocity according to 
detailed conditions which shall be fixed, of all Allied and United States 
prisoners of war. The Allied Powers and the United States shall be able 
to dispose of these prisoners as they wish. This condition annuls the 
previous conventions on the subject of the exchange of prisoners of war, 
including the one of July, 1918, in course of ratification. However, the 
repatriation of German prisoners of war interned in Holland and in Switzer- 
land shall continue as before. The repatriation of German prisoners of 
war shall be regulated at the conclusion of the preliminaries of peace. 

11. Sick and wounded, who cannot be removed from evacuated 
territory will be cared for by German personnel who will be left on the 
spot with the medical material required. 

12. All German troops at present in any territory which before the 
war belonged to Roumania, Turkey or Austria-Hungary shall immediately 
withdraw within the frontiers of Germany as they existed on August 1, 1914. 
German troops now in Russian territory shall withdraw within the 
frontiers of Germany, as soon as the Allies, taking into account the internal 
situation of those territories, shall decide that the time for this has come. 

13. Evacuation by German troops to begin at once and all German 
instructors, prisoners and civilian as well as military agents, now on the 
territory of Russia (as defined before 1914) to be recalled. 






'■>< '^'S 



Tl 






o S^ S2.3 p"^^ t=^ 
OQ erg &B 5 g.^ 

2 KT^ <^ S_^ fo - OQ 
S ^ CO ^^U> ^ 

o !h^ cr ffl iS< B" j;r S 
^ fD ^ wSq'o 2. 

B 3 (K CO?;- e; o rt;, 

" B; B- • ^ CB ^ Bt 

§-• t^ <^g e: •< 

B J?- p a> B- 



o tr^ 



&-0 
CI- C-P 






£i-cr; 



q O 



I— » P- 

rti CD 



-o f" ."^ S S" 2 S. 
2 ^?f § 2.^ » 

S.g^^.CR O 3 

^JT ai M 2 ►^•rt- 
.m JB 5^ 



S^3 § w 



O ,^ CO ps < 

fill ^^ 03 



S o 







jip^^. "g ?%^-'y?.. - - %- , -^Jlll^^fe^ir 




^E^fe-ir^ ''"T$'l ^^H ^MB 


^l^^e 


S--^ 


■,^>.-^*^, ,, ' • ,. ' B^ ifcj. 








-%6S^^#;,'' ..Hk^ • * ~ 


• 5f .'.J 


^P*:;:i^^^^ 




;'„^*.-4.;i 




*^^;^ 


.'/' tK^i-itn^Wi^A'"''- '- 



I Press Illustrating Service. 

GERMANS FLEEING BEFORE ALLIED ADVANCE 

To speed their retreat the German engineers builfc a temporary bridge using 
a British tank as a foundation. 




© Press Illustrating Service. 

THE GERMAN GOOSE-STEP 

The Kaiser reviews his troops marching with the goose-step. This photo- 
graph shows the pick of the German army. Most of these men were killed hj 
the end of the first year of the war. 



THE DRASTIC TERMS OF SURRENDER 657 

14. German troops to cease at once all requisitions and seizures and 
any other undertakings with a view to obtaining supplies intended for 
Germany in R,omiiania and Russia (as defined on August 1, 1914). 

15. Renunciation of the treaties of Bucharest and Brest-Litovsk 
and of the supplementary treaties. ., 

16. The Allies shall have free access to the territories evacuated by 
the Germans on their eastern frontier either through Danzig or by the 
Vistula in order to convey supplies to the populations of those territories 
and for the purpose of maintaining order. 

17. Evacuation by all German forces operating in East Africa within 
a period to be fixed by the Allies. 

18. Repatriation, without reciprocity, within maximum period of 
one month, in accordance with detailed conditions hereafter to be fixed, 
of all civilians interned or deported who may be citizens of other Allied 
or associated states than those mentioned in clause three, paragraph 
nineteen. 

19. The following financial conditions are required: Reparation for 
damage done. While such armistice lasts no public securities shall be 
removed by the enemy which can serve as a pledge to the Allies for the 
recovery or repatriation of the cash deposit, in the National Bank of 
Belgimn, and in general immediate return of all docimients, specie, stocks, 
shares, paper money together with plant for the issue thereof, touching 
public or private interests in the uivaded countries. Restitution of the 
Russian and Roumanian gold yielded to Germany or taken by that Power. 
This gold to be delivered in trust to the AUies until the signature of peace. 

20. Immediate cessation of all hostilities at sea and definite informa- 
tion to be given as to the location and mbvements of all German ships. 
Notification to be given to neutrals that freedom of navigation in all 
territorial waters is given to the naval and merchant marines of the 
AUied and associate Powers, all questions of neutrality being waived. 

21. All naval and mercantile marine prisoners of war of the Allied 
and associated Powers in German hands to be returned without reciprocity, 

22. Surrender to the Allies and the United States of America of all 
^ German submarines now existing (including all submarine cruisers and 

mine-laying submarines), with their complete armament and equipment, in 
ports which will be specified by the Allies and the United States of America, 
Those which cannot take the sea shall be disarmed of the material and 
personnel and shall remain under the supervision of the Allies and the 
United States, All the conditions of the article shall be carried into 
effect within fourteen days. Submarines ready for sea shall be prepared 
to leave German ports immediately upon orders by wireless, and the 
remainder at the earliest possible moment. 

23. The following German surface warships which shall be designated 
by the Allies and the United States of America shall forthwith be disarmed 
and thereafter interned in neutral ports, to be designated by the Allies and 
the United States of America and placed under the surveillance of the 



658 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR 

Allies and the United States of America, only caretakers being left on 
board, namely: 

Six battle cruisers, ten battleships, eight light cruisers, including 
two mine layers, fifty destroyers of the most modem type. All other 
surface warships (including river craft) are to be concentrated in naval 
bases to be designated by the AlHes and the United States of America, 
and are to be paid off and completely disarmed and placed under the 
supervision of the Allies and the United States of America. All vessels 
of the auxiliary fleet (trawlers, motor vessels, etc.) are to disarmed. 
Vessels designated for internment, shall be ready to leave German ports 
within seven days upon directions by wireless, and the miUtary armament 
of all vessels of the auxiliary fleet shall be put on shore. 

24. The AlHes and the United States of America shall have the 
right to sweep all mine fields and obstructions laid by Germany outside 
German territorial waters, and the positions of these are to be indicated. 

25. Freedom of access to and from the Baltic to be given to the naval 
and mercantile marine of the Allied and associated Powers. To secure 
this Allies and the United States of America shall be empowered to occupy 
all German forts, fortifications, batteries and defense works of all kinds 
in all the entrances from the Cattegat into the Baltic, and to sweep up all 
mines and obstructions within and without German territorial waters 
without any question of neutrality being raised, and the positions of all 
such mines and obstructions are to be indicated. 

26. The existing blockade conditions set up by the Allies and asso- 
ciated Powers are to remain unchanged and all German merchant ships 
found at sea are to remain liable to capture. The Allies and the United 
States shall give consideration to the provisioning of Germany during the 
armistice to the extent recognized as necessary. 

27. All naval aircraft are to be concentrated and immobilized in 
German bases to be specified by the Allies and the United States. 

28. In evacuating the Belgian coasts and ports, Germany shall aban- 
don all merchant ships, tugs, lighters, cranes and all other harbor mate- 
rials, all materials for inland navigation, all aircraft and all materials 
and stores, all arms and armaments, and all stores and apparatus of all 
kinds. 

29. All Black Sea ports are to be evacuated by Germany, all Russian 
war vessels of all descriptions seized by Germany in the Black Sea are 
to be handed over to the Allies and the United States of America; all 
neutral merchant vessels seized are to be released; all warlike and other 
materials of all kinds seized in those parts are to be returned and German 
materials as specified in clause twenty-eight are to be abandoned. 

30. All merchant vessels in German hands belonging to the Allied 
and associated Powers are to be restored in ports to be specified by the 
Allies and the United States of America without reciprocity. 

31. No destruction of ships or materials to be permitted before 
evacuation, surrender or restoration. 



THE DRASTIC TERMS OF SURRENDER 659 

32. The German Government will notify neutral governments of 
the world, and particularly the governments of Norway, Sweden, Den- 
mark and Holland, that all restrictions placed on the trading of their 
vessels with the Allied and associated countries, whether by the German 
Government or by private German interests, and whether in return for 
specific concessions such as the export of shipbuilding materials or not, 
are immediately canceled. 

33. No transfers of German merchant shipping of any description to 
any neutral flag are to take place after signature of the armistice. 

34. The duration of the armistice is to be thirty days, with option 
to extend. During this period, on failure of execution of any of the above 
clauses, the armistice may be denounced by one of the contracting parties 
on forty-eight hours' previous notice. It is understood that the execution 
of Articles 3 and 18 shall not warrant the denunciation of the armistice on 
the ground of insufficient execution within a period fixed, except in the 
case of bad faith in carrying them into execution. In order to assume the 
execution of this convention under the best conditions, the principle of a 
Permanent International Armistice Commission is admitted. This 
commission shall act under authority of the Allied military and naval 
commanders-in-chief. 

35. This armistice to be accepted or refused by Germany within 
seventy-two hours of notification. 




CHAPTER LIV 

Peace at Last 

'AR came upon the world in August, 1914, with a sud- 
denness and an impact that dazed the world. When 
it seemed, in 1918, that mankind had habituated him- 
self to war and that the bloody struggle would continue 
until the actual exhaustion and extinction of the nations involved, 
peace suddenly appeared. The debacle of the Teutonic aUiance 
was both dramatic and unexpected, except to those who knew how 
desperate were the conditions in the nations that were batthng for 
autocracy. Bulgaria was first to crumble, then Turkey fell, and 
Austria-Hungary deserted Germany. The Kaiser and his military 
advisers, left alone, appealed to the AlUes through President Wilson, 
for an armistice during which peace terms might be negotiated. 
Prince Maximihan of Baden, a statesman whose liberal ideas were 
rumored rather than demonstrated, was chosen to open negotiations. 
President Wilson, acting in concert with the Allies, referred Prince 
Maximihan to Marshal Foch. 

While negotiations were pending, a cabled message was received 
on November 7th to the effect that the armistice had been signed 
and that all soldiers would cease fighting on two o'clock of that 
afternoon. It was a false report, but it spread ¥/ith incredible speed 
throughout the country. Celebrations which included virtually 
every American, made the country a gala place for twenty-four 
hours. The American people with characteristic good nature 
laughed at the hoax next day and settled down in patience to await 
the inevitable declaration of an armistice. 

The true report arrived about three o'clock. Eastern time, in the 
morning of November 11th. Shrieks of whistles, the booming of 
cannon, and the clangor of bells, awoke milhons of sleeping persons, 
many of whom trooped into the streets to mingle their rejoicings 
with those of their neighbors. For a day there was high carnival 
in town and country throughout the land, then the nation settled 
down to face the imminent problems of reconstruction. 

660 



PEACE AT LAST 661 

One of these had to do with the immediate reduction of govern- 
mental expenditures during the approaching year. President Wilson 
had appealed to the voters to elect a Democratic Congress as an 
evidence of approval for his administration. The reply was 
a Republican House of Representatives and a Republican 
Senate. 

The Congress that had been in continuous session since America 
entered the war, ended its labors in mid-November. 

. For length, bulk of appropriations for the war and the number 
and importance of legislative measures passed, the session was 
unprecedented. 

Appropriations passed aggregated $36,298,000,000, making 
the total for this Congress more than $45,000,000,000, of which 
$19,412,000,000 was appropriated at the first (an extra) session, at 
which war was declared on Germany. 

Legislation passed included bills authorizing billions of Liberty 
bonds; creation of the War Finance Corporation; government 
control of telegraphs, telephones and cables; executive reorganiza- 
tion of government agencies, and extensions of the espionage act 
and the army draft law by which men between eighteen and forty- 
five years of age were required to register. 

Prohibition and woman suffrage furnished sharp controversies 
throughout the session. The war-time ''dry" measure was com- 
pleted, but after the woman suffrage constitutional amendment 
resolution had been adopted, January 10th, by the House, it was 
defeated in the Senate by two votes. 

Every man, woman and child in the belligerent nations owed 
almost seven times as much money when peace came as he did at 
the beginning of the war. 

Figures of the war's cost to the world compiled by the Federal 
Reserve Board were summarized in the statement that the approx- 
imate public debt per capita had increased from $60 before the war 
to almost $400 at the end of July, 1918. To this was added the 
cost since July, which is at the highest rate of the entire period. 

The direct cost of the war was calculated by the board at 
somewhere between $170,000,000,000 and $180,000,000,000, not 
taking into account the authorization of the debt or the cost of 
indemnities. 

Four-fifths of the huge burden fell upon the shoulders of the 



662 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR 

future, only Great Britain and America absorbing a considerable 
amount by taxation. 
f ' The total debt of the seven principal belligerents before the 
(war did not exceed $25,000,000,000. 

^ The board contrasted these figures with the total value of the 
/ gold and silver extracted from the earth since the beginning of the 
I world, which, it said, hardly exceeded $30,000,000,000. 
\ The belHgerent nations, therefore, owed about six times the 

amount of all the gold and silver produced in all time. 

Prices rose to three times the average of what they were at the 
beginning of the war. 

Great Britain's debt increased almost ten times over in the 
period of the war, or from $3,580,000,000 to $32,450,000,000 down 
to June, 1918. These figures do not include the debts of Australia, 
Canada, New Zealand and South Africa, British colonies. 

France's debt was quadrupled by the beginning of 1918, 
increasing from $6,833,000,000 to $25,410,000,000. 

Italy's debt rose from $2,929,000,000 to $6,918,000,000. 

Figures for Russia were brought up only to September, 1917, 
but they showed that at that time she owed $26,287,000,000, as 
compared with $5,234,000,000 at the beginning of the war. 

The pubUc debt of the United States was calculated to 
January 1, 1918, in order to be in line with those of other countries, 
increasing by that date to over $8,000,000,000 from a pre-war figure 
of a bilhon and a quarter. Since that time $11,500,000,000 have 
been subscribed to the Liberty Loans, thus increasing the national 
debt about sixteen fold. 

The most extraordinary increase of all was that of Germany, 
rising from $1,208,000,000 to $26,332,000,000. 

Austria owed $2,736,000,000 at the beginning of the war, 
which was increased by June, 1917, to $11,573,000,000. 

Hungary increased her debt from $1,392,000,000 to $5,910,- 
000,000 by December, 1917. 

The neutrals, Denmark, Spain, Holland, Norway, Sweden and 
Switzerland together owed $2,871,000,000 when war began and 
increased their debts only to $3,710,000,000. 

Existing war obligations of the United States at the close of 
1918 matured as follows: 

First Liberty Loan, $2,000,000,000, redeemable at the option 



PEACE AT LAST 663 

of the Treasury after 1932 and payable not later than 1947; Second 
Liberty Loan, $3,808,000,000, redeemable after 1927, payable 
in 1942; Third Liberty Loan, $4,176,000,000, redeemable and pay- 
able without option in 1928; Fourth Liberty Loan, $6,989,047,000, 
redeemable after 1933, payable in 1938; War Savings, $879,300,000 
up to November, 1918, payable in 1923. 

With this program of maturity, the Treasury by exercising 
its option could call in the nation's war debt for redemption in 
installments every five years until 1947. 

Secretary of the Treasury, WilUam Gibbs McAdoo, who was 
also Director General of Transportation, created a sensation when 
he resigned both offices in November, 1918, the resignation to take 
effect January 1, 1919. Coming upon the eve of the peace con- 
ference in Paris and the announcement that President Wilson 
intended to head the American delegates to the conference, the 
resignation caused widespread surprise. The reasons given by 
Mr. McAdoo were ill-health and a serious depreciation of his 
private fortune dm^ing his incumbency of governmental positions. 

Following the armistice, steps were immediately taken for the 
repatriation of a considerable portion of the American forces in 
France and the return to their homes of the men in American 
training camps. The Third Army of the United States, com- 
manded by General Dickman, was ordered to the western shore 
of the Rhine, there to co-operate with the troops of the AlHes until 
the conclusion of peace negotiations. 

The country was amazed on November 23d when General 
March announced that the casualties of the American forces 
which had been anticipated as being less than 100,000, had in 
reaHty exceeded 236,000. Explanation for this lay in the fierce 
on-rush of the American forces during the last month of the war. 

A forecast that many thousands of American boys would 
remain in France was given by Andre Tardieu, General Com- 
missioner for Franco-American affairs, when addressing the Asso- 
ciation of Foreign Correspondents in New York City, after the 
armistice had been signed. 

M. Tardieu appealed for permission to retain American 
soldiers in France. He said: 

"We want first an immediate assistance in the matter of labor. 
We hope that, during the preparation and the carrying out of the 



664 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR 

transportation of your troops back to America your technical units 
as well ais other units with their equipment will be able to co-operate 
in that effort. V/e soon will have to carry out a colossal work of 
transportation in view of the supplying of the regions evacuated by 
the enemy, of the recovering of the railroads in ISTorthem and 
Eastern France and in Alsace-Lorraine. V/e will have to clean 
the reconquered ground of the ruins accumulated by the German 
hordes. Your army will help us in this work while our population 
will restore her cities and villages. 

"Again in reference, not to all purchases — as a large part of 
our needs will be supplied outside of the United States — ^but in 
reference to those purchases which will be made in America, we are 
in need of credits in dollars covering about fifty per cent of our total 
piu-chases for reconstruction. The assurance of that financial 
help will bring to every one in France, government and private 
enterprise, the courage and faith necessary to apply to peace recon- 
struction the energy and the spirit of enterprise she has so promi- 
nently shown during the war. 

"We will exact from Germany the restitution of each part of 
the material taken away from us as can be recovered. But, besides 
that restitution, we must bear in mind that speed is a primary 
condition in the reconstruction of France, and that America, on 
account of her immense capacities for production, ought to give us 
the first help. We need ships, chartered ships as well as ships 
transferred to our flag; the speedy reconstruction of the country is 
strictly depending on the revival of our mercantile fleet. 

"The colossal effort put up by the United States in the building 
of her fleet for war purposes will not be diverted from this sacred 
end if it, in part, helps France to recover on the seas, for the revival 
of her forces in peace, the means of transportation which were lost 
to her on account of the war. 

"In reference to these four items — ^labor, credit, raw materials, 
ships — I have explained in detail our needs to your administration, 
by whose welcome I have been deeply moved. What I told them, 
w4iat I asked for, I am telling it to you again, because a policy of 
secrecy does not befit our day. 

"We have lost two million and a half men; some are dead, 
some maimed, some have returned sick and incapacitated from 
German prisons. Whether they be lost altogether, or whether their 



PEACE AT LAST 665 

working capacity be permanently reduced, they will not participate 
in this reconstruction. The fifteenth part of our people is missing 
at the very time we need all our material and moral forces in order 
to build up our life again. The younger part, yea, the stronger part 
of our nation, the flower of France, has died away on the battle-fields. 
Our country has been bereft of its most precious resources. 

''Our war expenses, on the other side, 120,000,000,000 francs, 
are weighing heavily on our shoulders. To pay off this debt there 
are at hand only such limited resources as invasion has left us. 
The territories which have been under German occupation for 
four years were the wealthiest part of France. Their area did not 
exceed six per cent of the whole country. They paid, however, 
twenty-five per cent of the sum total of our taxes. 

"These territories which have been, for the last three months, 
occupied again by us at the cost of our own blood and of the blood of 
our allies, are now in a state of ruin even worse than we had antici- 
pated. Of the cities and villages nothing remains but ruins; 
350,000 homes have been destroyed. To build them up again — 
I am referring to the building proper, without the furnishings — 
600 million days' of work will be necessary, involving, together with 
building material, an outlay of 10,000,000,000 francs. ' As regards 
personal property of every description either destroyed by battle, 
or stolen by the Germans, there stands an additional loss of at 
least 4,000,000,000 francs. '^^ 

''This valuation of lost personal property does not include — 
as definite figures are lacking as yet — the countless war contributions 
and fines by the enemy, amounting also to billions. I need hardly 
say that, in those wealthy Jands, practically no agricultural re- 
sources are left. 

The losses in horses and in cattle, bovine and ovine species, 
hogs, goats, amount to 1,510,000 head — in agricultural equip- 
ment to 454,000 machines or carts — the two items worth together 
6,000,000,000 francs. 

"Now as regards industries, the disaster is even more complete. 
These districts occupied by the Germans and whose machinery 
has been methodically destroyed or taken away by the enemy, 
were, industrially speaking, the very heart of France. They were 
the very backbone of our production, as shown in the following 
startling figures: 

37 



666 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR 

"In 1913 the wool output of our invaded regions amounted to 
94 per cent of the total. French production and corresponding 
figures were: For flax from the spinning mills, 90 per cent; iron ore, 
90 per cent; pig iron, 83 per cent; steel, 70 per cent; sugar, 70 per 
cent; cotton, 60 per cent; coal 55 per cent; electric power, 45 per 
cent. Of all that, plants, machinery, mines, nothing is left. Every- 
thing has been carried away or destroyed by the enemy. So com- 
plete is the destruction that, in the case of our great coal mines in 
the north, two years of work will be needed before a single ton of 
coal can be extracted and ten years before the output is brought 
back to the figures of 1913. 

'*A11 that must be rebuilt, and to carry out that kind of recon- 
struction only, there will be a need of over 2,000,000 tons of pig 
iron, nearly 4,000,000 tons of steel — not to mention the replenishing 
of stocks and of raw materials which must of necessity be supplied 
to the plants during the first year of resumed activity. If we take 
into account these different items we reach as regards industrial 
needs a total of 25,000,000,000 francs. 

''To resurrect these regions, to reconstruct these factories, 
raw materials are not now sufiicient; we need means of transporta- 
tion. Now the enemy has destroyed our railroad tracks, our rail- 
road equipment, and our rolUng stock, which in the first month of the 
war, in 1914, was reduced by 50,000 cars, has undergone the wear 
and tear of fifty months of war. 

"Our merchant fleet, on the other hand, has lost more than a 
million tons through submarine warfare. . Our shipyards during the 
last four years have not built any ships. For they have produced 
for us and for our allies cannon, ammunition, and tanks. Here, 
again, for this item alone of means of transportation we must 
figure on an expense of 2,500,000,000 francs. 

"This makes, if I sum up these different items, a need of raw 
material which represents in cost, at the present rate of prices in 
France, not less than 50,000,000,000 francs. 

"And this formidable figure, gentlemen, does not cover every- 
thing. I have not taken into account the loss represented for the 
future production of France by the transformation of so many 
factories which for four years were exclusively devoted to war 
munitions. I have not taken into account foreign markets lost to 
us as a result of the destruction of one-fourth of our productive 



PEACE AT LAST 667 

capital and the almost total collapse of our trade. I have not taken 
into account the economic weakening that we will suffer tomorrow 
owing to that loss, to which I referred a while ago, of 2,500,000 
young and vigorous men." 

This was one of the great by-products of the war. Thousands 
of young Americans, vigorous evangels of democratic thought, 
remained in Europe to bring American ideals and American force 
into the affairs of the old world. 

Those who returned were formidable factors in re-shaping the 
affairs of the nation. Grave injustices were done in some instances 
to young men who had volunteered in the early days of the war 
through patriotic motives and who returned to find their places 
in industry taken by others. In the main, however, the process of 
absorption went forward steadily and without serious incident. 

One factor making for satisfactory adjustment was the insur- 
ance system put into effect by the United States Government, 
affecting its war forces. Immediately following the armistice, the 
following announcement was made: 

Preparations by the government for re-insuring the lives of soldiers 
and sailors on their return have been hastened by the signing of the 
armistice. Although regulations have not yet been fully drafted, it is 
certain that each of the 4,250,000 men in the miUtary or naval service 
now holding voluntary government insurance will be permitted within 
five years after peace is declared to convert it without further medical 
examination into ordinary life, twenty-pay life, endowment maturing at 
the age of sixty-tv/o, or other prescribed forms of insurance. 

This insurance will be arranged by the government, not by private 
companies, and the cost is expected to be at least one-fourth less than 
similar forms offered by private agencies. The low cost will result from 
the fact that the government will pay all overhead administration 
expenses, which, for private companies, amount to about seventeen per 
cent of premium receipts; will save the usual solicitation fees and, in 
addition, bear the risk resulting from the wounding or weakening of 
men while' in the service. Private companies would not write insurance 
on many wounded men, or their rates would be unusually high. 

The government will arrange to collect premiums monthly, if men 
wish to pay that way, or for longer periods in advance. This may be 
done through post-offices. The minimum amount of insurance to be 
issued probably will be $1,000, and the maximum $10,000, with any 
amount between those sums in multiple of $500. There will be provision 
for payments in case of disability as well as death, according to the tenta- 
tive plan. 



668 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR 

Thus will be created out of the government's emergency war insur- 
ance bureau the greatest life insurance institution in the world for peace 
times, with more policyholders and greater aggregate risks than a half 
dozen of the world's biggest private companies combined. Out of the 
experience gained may eventually develop expansion of government 
insurance to old age, industrial and other forms of insurance, in the opin- 
ion of officials who have studied the subject. 

Regulations for reinsuring returning soldiers and sailors are being 
framed by an advisory board to the military and naval section of the war 
risk bureau, consisting of Arthur Hunter, actuary of the New York Life 
Insurance Com^pany; W. A. Fraser, Omaha, of the Woodmen of the World, 
and F. Robertson Jones, of the Workmen's Compensation Publicity 
Bureau, New York. 

Plans also are under consideration for allowing beneficiaries of men 
who have died or been killed in the service to choose between taking 
monthly payments over a period of twenty years or to commute these 
payments in a lump sum. 




CHAPTER LV 

America's Position in War and Peace 

Y common consent of the Entente Allies, President Wilson 
was made the spokesman for the democracy of the world. 
As Lloyd George, Premier Clemenceau of France, Premier 
Orlando of Italy, and other Em^opeans recognized, his 
utterances most clearly and cogently expressed the principles for 
which civilization was battling against the Hun. IMore than that, 
these statesmen and the peoples they represented recognized that 
back of President Wilson were the high ideals of an America 
pledged to the redemption of a war-weary world. 

The war produced a sterility in literature. Out of the great 
mass that was written, however, two productions stood out in 
their nobility of thought and in their classic directness of expression. 
These were the address before Congress by President Wilson on 
the night of April 2, 1917, when, recognizing fully the dread 
responsibility of his action, he pronounced the words which led 
America into the World War, and the speech made by him on 
Monday, November 11, 1918, when addressing Congress he 
announced the end of the war. Other declarations of the Presi- 
dent that will be treasured as long as democracy survives, are 
those enunciating the fourteen points upon which America would 
make peace, and two later declarations as to America's purposes. 

His address of April 2d was delivered before the most 
distinguished assemblage ever gathered within the hall of the 
House of Representatives. The Supreme Court of the United 
States, headed by the Chief Justice, every member of the embassies 
then resident in Washington, the entire membership of the House 
and Senate, and a host of the most distinguished men and women 
that could crowd themselves into the great hall, listened to what 
was virtually America's Declaration of War. 

The air was still and tragic suspense was upon every face 
as the President began his address. At first he was pale as the 
marble rostrum against which he leaned. As he read from small 

669 



670 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR 

sheets typewritten with his own hand, his voice grew firmer and 
the flush of indignation and of resolution overspread his counte- 
nance. He said: 

Gentlemen of the Congress: 

I have called the Congress into extraordinary session because there 
are serious, very serious, choices of pohcy to be made, and made immedi- 
ately, which it was neither right nor constitutionally permissible that I 
should assume the responsibility of making. 

On the third of February last I officially laid before you the extraor- 
dinary announcement of the Imperial German Government that on 
and after the first day of February it was its purpose to put aside all 
restraints of law or of humanity and use its submarines to suik every 
vessel that sought to approach either the ports of Great Britain and 
Ireland on the western coasts of Europe or any of the ports controlled 
by the enemies of Germany within the Mediterranean. That had seemed 
to be the object of the German submarine warfare earlier in the war, 
but since April of last year the Imperial Government had somewhat 
restrained the commanders of its undersea craft in conformity with its 
promise then given to us that passenger boats should not be sunk and 
that due warning would be given to all other vessels which its submarines 
might seek to destroy, when no resistance was offered or escape attempted, 
and care taken that their crews were given at least a fair chance to save 
their lives in their open boats. The precautions taken were meager and 
haphazard enough, as was proved in distressing instance after instance 
in the progress of the cruel and unmanly business, but a certain degree of 
restraint was observed. The new policy has swept every restriction aside. 
Vessels of every kind, whatever their flag, their character, their cargo, 
their destination, their errand, have been ruthlessly sent to the bottom 
without warning and without thought of help or mercy for those on board, 
the vessels of friendly neutrals along with those of belHgerents. Even 
hospital ships and ships carrying relief to the sorely bereaved and stricken 
people of Belgium, though the latter were provided with safe conduct 
through the proscribed areas by the German Government itself and were 
distinguished by unmistakable marks of identity, have been sunk with 
the same reckless lack of compassion or of principle. 

I was for a little while unable to believe that such things would in fact 
be done by any government that had hitherto subscribed to the humane 
practices of civilized nations. International law had its origin in the 
attempt to set up some law which would be respected and observed upon 
the seas, where no nation had right of dominion and where lay the free 
highways of the world. By painful stage after stage has that law been 
built up, with meager enough results, indeed, after all was accomplished 
that could be accomplished, but always with a clear view, at least, of 
what the heart and conscience of manldnd demanded. This minimum of 



AMERICA'S POSITION IN WAR AND PEACE 671 

right the German Government has swept aside imder the plea of retaha- 
tion and necessity and because it had no weapons which it could use at 
sea except these which it is impossible to employ as it is employing them 
without throwing to the winds all scruples of humanity or of respect for 
the understandings that were supposed to underlie the intercourse of the 
world. I am not now thinking of the loss of property involved, immense 
and serious as that is, but only of the wanton and wholesale destruction 
of the lives of noncombatants, men, women, and children, engaged in 
pursuits which have always, even in the darkest periods of modern history, 
been deemed innocent and legitimate. Property can be paid for; the 
lives of peaceful and innocent people can not be. The present German 
submarine warfare against commerce is a warfare against manldnd. 

It is a war against all nations. American ships have been sunk, 
American lives taken, in ways which it has stirred us very deeply to learn 
of, but the ships and people of other neutral and friendly nations have 
been sunk and overwhelmed in the waters in the same way. There has 
been no discrimination. The challenge is to all mankind. Each nation 
must decide for itself how it will meet it. The choice we make for our- 
selves must be made with a moderation of counsel and a temperateness of 
judgment befitting our character and our motives as a nation. We must 
put excited feeling away. Our motive will not be revenge or the vic- 
torious assertion of the physical might of the nation, but only the vindica- 
tion of right, of human right, of which we are only a single champion. 

When I addressed the Congress on the twenty-sixth of February last 
I thought that it would suffice to assert our neutral rights with arms, our 
right to use the seas against unlawful interference, our right to keep our 
people safe agamst unlawful violence. But armed neutrality, it now 
appears, is impracticable. Because submarines are in effect outlaws when 
used as the German submarines have been used against merchant shipping, 
it is impossible to defend ships against their attacks as the law of nations 
has assumed that merchantmen would defend themselves against privateers 
or cruisers, visible craft giving chase upon the open sea. It is common 
prudence in such circumstances, grim necessity indeed, to endeavor to 
destroy them before they have shown their own intention. They must be 
dealt with upon sight, if dealt with at all. The German Government denies 
the right of neutrals to use arms at aU within the areas of the sea which 
it has proscribed, even in the defense of rights which no modern publicist 
has ever before questioned their right to defend. The intimation is con- 
veyed that the armed guards which we have placed on our merchant ships 
will be treated as beyond the pale of law and subject to be dealt with as 
pirates would be. Anned neutrality is ineffectual enough at best; in such 
circumstances and in the face of such pretensions it is worse than ineffectual : 
it is likely only to produce what it was meant to prevent; it is practically 
certain to draw us into the war without either the rights or the effectiveness 
of belligerents. There is one choice we can not make, we are incapable of 
making; we will not choose the path of submission and suffer the most 



672 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR 

sacred rights of our nation and our people to be ignored or violated. The 
wrongs against which we now array ourselves are no common wrongs; 
they cut to the very roots of human life. 

With a profound sense of the solemn and even tragical character of 
the step I am taking and of the grave responsibilities which it involves, but 
in unhesitating obedience to what I deem my constitutional duty, I advise 
that the Congress declare the recent course of the Imperial German Govern- 
ment to be in fact nothing less than war against the government and 
people of the United States; that it formally accept the status of bel- 
ligerent which has thus been thrust upon it; and that it take immediate 
steps not only to put the country in a more thorough state of defense but 
also to exert all its power and employ all its resources to bring the Govern- 
ment of the German Empire to terms and end the war. 

What this will involve is clear. It will involve the utmost practicable 
co-operation in counsel and action with the governments now at war with 
Germany, and, as incident to that, the extension to those governments of 
the most liberal financial credits, in order that our resources may so far 
as possible be added to theirs. It will involve the organization and mobili- 
zation of all the material resources of the country to supply the materials 
of war and serve the incidental needs of the nation in the most abundant 
and yet the most economical and efficient way possible. It will involve 
the immediate full equipment of the navy in all respects but particularly 
in supplying it with the best means of dealing with the enemy's submarines. 
It will involve the immediate addition to the armed forces of the United 
States already provided for by law in case of war at least five hundred 
thousand men, who should, in my opinion, be chosen upon the principle 
of universal liability to service, and also the authorization of subsequent 
additional increments of equal force so soon as they may be needed and 
can be handled in training. It will involve also, of course, the granting 
of adequate credits to the Government, sustained, I hope, so far as they 
can equitably be sustained by the present generation, by well conceived 
taxation. 

I say sustained so far as may be equitable by taxation because it 
seems to me that it would be most unwise to base the credits which will 
now be necessary entirely on money borrowed. It is our duty, I most 
respectfully urge, to protect our people so far as we may against the very 
serious hardships and evils which would be likely to arise out of the infla- 
tion which would be produced by vast loans. 

In carrying out the measures by which these things are to be accom- 
plished we should keep constantly in mind the wisdom of interfering as 
little as possible in our own preparation and in the equipment of our own 
military forces with the duty — for it will be a very practical duty — of 
supplying the nations already at war with Germany with the materials 
which they can obtain only from us or by our assistance. They are in the 
field and we should help them in every way to be effective there. 

I shall take the liberty of suggesting, through the several executive 



w 



oq 





fe 


^ 






a^ 


p' 


CD 


e-w 


3- 


^ 


fo 


1- 








a. 


IQ 


.0 


s 

13 


!=: 


S" 


CD 




CD 




e 




S 












b9 




SO 




cr 




CB 








? 










2 £.0 




IAN 

gium 

dof 








^•'S-;^ 

^.5-g 




S-"l w 




n irt- n 




GIS 

he, 
irio 




g^co 








^ 5^}« 




g&.w 




:r^§ w 




NTE 

lors, 
Oct 




g-o Jd 

•^ CI- S 




MP' 5 




03^0 




■*H-^'0 




cd2" W 




1—2. r/3 




00 C ^ 






tf' 




p 





p 
o" 

W 





International Film Servic. 

SURRENDER OF THE GERMAN HIGH SEAS FLEET 
Actual photograph showing the greatest naval surrender in history — the German 
fleet arriving to surrender. Below, The commanders of the British and American fleets, 
Admirals Beatty and Rodman, the King of England and the Prince of Wales viewing 
the surrender. 



AMERICA'S POSITION IN WAR AND PEACE 675 

departments of the Government, for the consideration of your committees, 
measures for the accomphshment of the several objects I have mentioned. 
I hope that it will be your pleasure to deal with them as having been 
framed after very careful thought by the branch of the Government upon 
which the responsibihty of conducting the war and safeguarding the nation 
will most directly fall. 

While we do these things, these deeply momentous things, let us be 
very clear, and make very clear to all the world what our motives and our 
objects are. My own thought has not been driven from its habitual and 
normal course by the unhappy events of the last two months, and I do not 
believe that the thought of the nation has been altered or clouded by them. 
I have exactly the same things in mind now that I had in mind when I 
addressed the Senate on the 22d of January last; the same that I had in 
mind when I addressed the Congress on the 3d of February and on the 
26th of February. Our object now, as then, is to vindicate the principles 
of peace and justice in the life of the world as against selfish and auto- 
cratic power and to set up amongst the really free and self-governed 
peoples of the world such a concert of purpose and of action as will hence- 
forth ensure the observance of those principles. Neutrality is no longer 
feasible or desirable where the peace of the world is involved and the 
freedom of its peoples, and the menace to that peace and freedom lies in 
the existence of autocratic governments backed by organized force which 
is controlled wholly by their will, not by the will of their people. We 
have seen the last of neutrality in such circumstances. We are at the 
beginning of an age in which it will be insisted that the same standards of 
conduct and of responsibility for wrong done shall be observed among 
nations and their governments that are observed among the individual 
citizens of civilized states. 

We have no quarrel with the German people. We have no feeling 
towards them but one of sympathy and friendship. It was not upon their 
impulse that their government acted in entering this war. It was not 
with their previous knowledge or approval. It was a war determined 
upon as wars used to be determined upon in the old, unhappy days when 
peoples were nowhere consulted by their rulers and wars were provoked 
and waged in the interest of dynasties or of little groups of ambitious men 
who were accustomed to use their fellow men as pawns and tools. Self- 
governed nations do not fill their neighbor states with spies or set the course 
of intrigue to bring about some critical posture of affairs which will give 
them an opportunity to strike and make conquest. Such designs can be 
successfully worked out only under cover and where no one has the right 
to ask questions. Cunningly contrived plans of deception or aggression, 
carried, it may be, from generation to generation, can be worked out and 
kept from the light only within the privacy of courts or behind the care- 
fully guarded confidences of a narrow and privileged class. They are 
happily impossible where public opinion commands and insists upon full 
information concerning all the nation's affairs. 



676 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR 

A steadfast concert for peace can never be maintained except by a 
partnership of democratic nations. No autocratic government could be 
trusted to keep faith within it or observe its covenants. It must be a 
league of honor, a partnership of opinion. Intrigue would eat its vitals 
away; the plottings of inner circles who could plan what they v/ould and 
render account to no one would be a corruption seated at its very heart. 
Only free peoples can hold their purpose and their honor steady to a 
conmion end and prefer the interests of mankind to any narrow interest 
of their own. 

Does not every American feel that assurance has been added to our 
hope for the future peace of the world by the wonderful and heartening 
things that have been happening within the last few weeks in Russia? 
Russia was known by those who knew it best to have been always in fact 
democratic at heart, in all the vital habits of her thoughts, in all the inti- 
mate relationships of her people that spoke their natural instinct, their 
habitual attitude towards life. The autocracy that crowned the summit 
of her political structure, long as it had stood and terrible as was the reality 
of its power, was not in fact Russian in origin, character, or purpose; and 
now it has been shaken off and the great, generous Russian people have 
been added in all their native majesty and might to the forces that are 
fighting for freedom in the world, for justice, and for peace. Here is a fit 
partner for a League of Honor. 

One of the things that has served to convince us that the Prussian 
autocracy was not and could never be our friend is that from the very 
outset of the present war it has filled our unsuspecting communities and 
even our oflfices of goverimient with spies and set criminal intrigues every- 
where afoot against our national unity of counsel, our peace within and 
without, our industries and our commerce. Indeed it is now evident that 
its spies were here even before the war began; and it is unhappily not a 
matter of conjecture but a fact proved in our courts of justice that the 
intrigues which have more than once come perilously near to disturbing 
the peace and dislocating the industries of the country have been carried 
on at the instigation, with the support, and even under the personal direc- 
tion of official agents of the Imperial Government accredited to the Govern- 
ment of the United States. Even in checking these things and trying to 
ejctirpate them we have sought to put the most generous interpretation 
possible upon them because we knew that their source lay, not in any 
hostile feeling or purpose of the German people towards us (who were, 
no doubt as ignorant of them as we ourselves were), but only in the selfish 
designs of a government that did what it pleased and told its people noth- 
ing. But they have played their part in serving to convince us at last 
that that government entertains no real friendship for us and means to 
act against our peace and security at its convenience. That it means to 
stir up enemies against us at our very doors the intercepted note to the 
German Minister at Mexico City is eloquent evidence. 

We are accepting this challenge of hostile purpose because we know 



AMERICA'S POSITION IN WAR AND PEACE 677 

that in such a government, following such methods, we can never have a 
friend; and that in the presence of its organized power, always lying in 
wait to accompHsh we know not what purpose, there can be no assured 
security for the democratic governments of the world. We are now about 
to accept gauge of battle with this natural foe to liberty and shall, if neces- 
sary, spend the whole force of the nation to check and nullify its preten- 
sions and its power. We are glad, now that we see the facts with no veil 
of false pretense about them, to fight thus for the ultimate peace of the 
world and for the liberation of its peoples, the German peoples included: 
for the rights of nations great and small and the privilege of men every- 
where to choose their way of life and of obedience. The world must be 
made safe for democracy. Its peace must be planted upon the tested 
foundations of political liberty. We have no selfish ends to serve. We 
desire no conquest, no dominion. We seek no indemnities for ourselves, 
no material compensation for the sacrifices we shall freely make. We are 
but one of the champions of the rights of mankind. We shall be satisfied 
when those rights have been made as secure as the faith and the freedom 
of nations can make them. 

Just because we fight without rancor and without selfish object, seek- 
ing nothing for ourselves but what we shall wish to share with all free 
peoples, we shall, I feel confident, conduct our operations as belligerents 
without passion, and ourselves observe with proud punctilio the principles 
of right and of fair play we profess to be fighting for. 

I have said nothing of the governments allied with the Imperial 
Government of Germany because they have not made war upon us or 
challenged us to defend our right and our honor. The Austro-Hungarian 
Government has, indeed, avowed its unqualified endorsement and accep- 
tance of the reckless and lawless submarine warfare adopted now without 
disguise by the Imperial German Government, and it has therefore not 
been possible for this government to receive Count Tarnowski, the Ambas- 
sador recently accredited to this government by the Imperial and Royal 
Government of Austria-Hungary; but that government has not actually 
engaged in warfare against citizens of the United States on the seas, and 
I take the liberty, for the present at least, of postponing a discussion of 
our relations with the authorities at Vienna. We enter this war only 
where we are clearly forced into it because there are no other means of 
defending our rights. 

It will be all the easier for us to conduct ourselves as belligerents in a 
high spirit of right and fairness because we act without animus, not in 
enmity towards a people or with the desire to bring any injury or dis- 
advantage upon them, but only in armed opposition to an irresponsible 
government which has thrown aside all considerations of humanity and of 
right and is running amuck. We are, let me say again, the sincere friends 
of the German people, and shall desire nothing so much as the early 
re-establishment of intimate relations of mutual advantage between us — 
however hard it may be for them, for the time being, to believe that this is 



678 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR 

spoken from our hearts. We have borne with their present government 
through all these bitter months because of that friendship — exercising a 
patience and forbearance which would otherwise have been impossible. 
We shall, happily, still have an opportunity to prove that friendship in 
our daily attitude and actions towards the milhons of men and women of 
German birth and native sympathy who live amongst us and share our 
life, and we shall be proud to prove it towards all who are in fact loyal to 
their neighbors and to the government in the hour of test. They are, 
most of them, as true and loyal Americans as if they had never known 
any other fealty or allegiance. They will be prompt to stand with us in 
rebuking and restraining the few who may be of a different mind and pur- 
pose. If there should be disloyalty, it Avill be dealt with with a firm hand 
of stern repression; but, if it lifts its head at all, it will lift it only here and 
there and without countenance except from a lawless and malignant few. 
It is a distressing and oppressive duty, Gentlemen of the Congress, 
which I have performed in thus addressing you. There are, it may be, 
many months of fiery trial and sacrifice ahead of us. It is a fearful thing 
to lead this great peaceful people into war, into the most terrible and dis- 
astrous of all wars, civihzation itself seeming to be m the balance. But 
the right is more precious than peace, and we shall fight for the things 
which we have always carried nearest our hearts — for democracy, for the 
right of those who submit to authority to have a voice in their own govern- 
ments, for the rights and liberties of small nations, for a universal dominion 
of right by such a concert of free peoples as shall bring peace and safety 
to all nations and make the world itself at last free. To such a task we can 
dedicate our Hves and our fortunes, everything that we are and everything 
that we have, with the pride of those who know that the day has come 
when America is privileged to spend her blood and her might for the 
principles that gave her birth and happiness and the peace which she has 
treasured. God helping her, she can do no other. 

His address to Congress on November 11, 1918, while all the 
Allied Nations were celebrating with exultant hearts the victory 
that had come to them, was no less dramatic than the speech 
that had marked the beginning of the war. He prefaced it by 
reading the drastic terms of the armistice granted to Germany. 
Continuing he said : 

The war thus comes to an end; for, having accepted these terms of 
armistice, it will be impossible for the German command to renew it. 

It is not now possible to assess the consequences of this great con- 
summation. We know only that this tragical war, whose consuming 
flames swept from one nation to another until all the world was on fire, 
is at an end and that it was the privilege of our own people to enter it at 
its most critical juncture in such fashion and in such force as to contribute, 
in a way of which we are aU deeply proud, to the great result. We know. 



AMERICA'S POSITION IN WAR AND PEACE 679 

too, that the object of the war is attained; the object upon which all 
free men had set their hearts; and attained with a sweeping complete- 
ness which even now we do not realize. Armed imperialism such as the 
men conceived who were but yesterday the masters of Germany is at an 
end, its illicit ambitions engulfed in black disaster. Who will now seek 
to revive it? 

The arbitrary power of the military caste of Germany which once 
could secretly and of its own single choice disturb the peace of the world 
is discredited and destroyed. And more than that — ^much more than 
that — has been accomplished. The great nations which associated them- 
selves to destroy it have now definitely united in the conamon purpose 
to set up such a peace as will satisfy the longing of the whole world for 
disinterested justice, embodied in settlements which are based upon some- 
thing much better and more lasting than the selfish competitive interests 
of powerful states. There is no longer conjecture as to the objects the 
victors have in mind. They have a mind in the matter, not only, but a 
heart also. Their avowed and concerted purpose is to satisfy and protect 
the weak as well as to accord their just rights to the strong. 

The humane temper and intention of the victorious govermnents 
have already been manifested in a very practical way. Their representa- 
tives in the Supreme War Council at Versailles have by unanimous resolu- 
tion assured the peoples of the Central Empires that everything that is 
possible in the circumstances will be done to supply them with food and 
relieve the distressing want that is in so many places threatening their 
very lives; and steps are to be taken immediately to organize these efforts 
at relief in the same systematic manner that they were organized in the 
case of Belgium. By the use of the idle tonnage of the Central Empires 
it ought presently to be possible to lift the fear of utter misery from their 
oppressed populations and set their minds and energies free for the great 
and hazardous tasks of political reconstruction which now face them on 
every hand. Hunger does not breed reform; it breeds madness and 
all the ugly distempers that make an ordered life impossible. 

For with the fall of the ancient governments, which rested like an 
incubus on the peoples of the Central Empires, has come political change 
not merely, but revolution; and revolution which seems as yet to assume 
no final and ordered form, but to run from one fluid change to another, 
until thoughtful men are forced to ask themselves, with what govern- 
ments and of what sort are we about to deal in the making of the covenants 
of peace? With what authority will they meet us, and with what assur- 
ance that their authority will abide and sustain securely the international 
arrangements into which we are about to enter? There is here matter 
for no small anxiety and misgiving. When peace is made, upon whose 
promises and engagements besides our own is it to rest? 

Let us be perfectly frank with ourselves and admit that these ques- 
tions cannot be satisfactorily answered now or at once. But the moral 
is not that there is little hope of an early answer that will suffice. It is 



680 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR 

only that we must be patient and helpful and mindful above all of the 
great hope and confidence that lie at the heart of what is taking place. 
Excesses accomplish nothing. Unhappy Russia has furnished abundant 
recent proof of that. Disorder immediately defeats itself. If excesses 
should occur, if disorder should for a time raise its head, a sober second 
thought will follow and a day of constructive action, if we help and do 
not hinder. 

The present and all that it holds belongs to the nations and the 
peoples who preserve their self-control and the orderly processes of their 
governments; the future to those who prove themselves the true friends 
of mankind. To conquer with arms is to make only a temporary con- 
quest; to conquer the world by earning its esteem is to make permanent 
conquest. I am confident that the nations that have learned the discipline 
of freedom and that have settled with self-possession to its ordered practice 
are now about to make conquest of the world by the sheer power of example 
and of friendly helpfulness. 

•-■■■ The peoples who have but just come out from imder the yoke of 
arbitrary government and who are now coming at last into their freedom 
will never find the treasures of liberty they are in search of if they look 
for them by the light of the torch. They will find that every pathway 
that is stained with the blood of their own brothers leads to the wilderness, 
not to the seat of their hope. They are now face to face with their initial 
test. We must hold the light steady until they find themselves. And 
in the meantime, if it be possible, we must establish a peace that will 
justly define their place among the nations, remove all fear of their neigh- 
bors and of their former masters, and enable them to live in security and 
contentment when they have set their own affairs in order. I, for one, do 
not doubt their purpose or their capacity. There are some happy signs 
that they knowMnd will choose the way of self-control and peaceful accom- 
modation. If they do, we shall put our aid at their disposal in every way 
that we can. If they do not, we must await with patience and sympathy 
the awakening and recovery that will assuredly come at last. 

FOURTEEN PRINCIPLES OF PEACE 

On Tuesday, January 8, 1918, President Wilson placed the 
peace terms of the United States Government before both houses 
of Congress, in joint session. The fourteen principles were: 

1. Open covenants of peace, openly arrived at, after which there 
shall be no private international understanding of any kind, but diplomacy 
shall proceed always frankly and in the public view. 

2. Absolute freedom of navigation upon the seas, outside territorial 
waters, alike in peace and war, except as the seas may be closed in whole 
or in part by international action for the enforcement of international 
covenants. 



AMERICA'S POSITION IN WAR AND PEACE 681 

3. The removal, so far as possible, of all economic barriers and the 
establishment of an equality of trade conditions among all the nations 
consenting to the peace and associating themselves for its maintenance. 

4. Adequate guarantees given and taken that national armaments 
will be reduced to the lowest point consistent with domestic safety. 

5. A free, open-minded and absolutely impartial adjustment of all 
Colonial claims based upon a strict observance of the principle that in 
determining all such questions of sovereignty, the interests of the popula- 
tions concerned must have equal weight with the equitable claims of the 
govermnent whose title is to be determined. 

6. The evacuation of all Russian territory and such a settlement of 
all questions affecting Russia as will secure the best and freest co-operation 
of the other nations cf the v/orld in obtaining for her an unhampered and 
unembarrassed opportunity for the independent determination of her 
own political development and national policy, and assure her of a sincere 
welcome into the society of free nations under institutions of her own 
choosing; and, more than a welcome, assistance also of every kind that 
she may need and may herself desire. The treatment accorded Russia 
by her sister nations in the months to come wHl be the acid test of their 
good will, of their comprehension of her needs, as distmguished from their 
own interests, and of their intelligent and unselfish sympathy. 

7. Belgium, the whole world will agree, must be evacuated and 
restored, without any attempt to limit the sovereignty which she enjoys 
in common with all other free nations. No other single act will serve 
as this will serve to restore confidence among the nations in the laws which 
they have themselves set and determined for the government of then- 
relations with one another. Without this healing act the whole structure 
and validity of international law is forever impaired. 

8. All French territory should be freed and the invaded portions 
restored, and the wi'ong done to France by Prussia in 1871, in the matter 
of Alsace-Lorraine, which has unsettled the peace of the world for nearly 
fifty years, should be righted, in order that peace may once more be made 
secure in the interests of all. 

9. A readjustment of the frontiers of Italy should be effected along 
clearly recognized lines of nationalit3^ 

10. The peoples of Austria-Hungary, whose place among the nations 
we wish to see safeguarded and restored, should be accorded the freest 
opportunity of autonomous development. 

11. Roumania, Serbia and Montenegro should be evacuated, occupied 
territories restored; Serbia accorded free and secure access to the sea, 
and the relations of the several Balkan States to one another determined 
by friendly counsel along historically established lines of allegiance and 
nationality; and international guarantees of the political and economic 
independence and territorial integrity, of the several Balkan States, should 
be entered into. 

12. The Turkish portion of the present Ottoman Empire should be 



682 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR 

assured a secure sovereignty, but the other nationahties which are now 
under Turkish rule, should be assured an undoubted security of life and 
an absolutely unmolested opportunity of autonomous development, and 
the Dardanelles should be permanently opened as a free passage to the 
ships and commerce of all nations under international guarantees. 

13. An independent Polish State should be erected which should 
include the territories inhabited by indisputably Polish populations, 
which should be assured a free and secure access to the sea, and whose 
political and economic independence and territorial integrity should be 
guaranteed by international covenants. 

14. General association of nations must be formed under specific 
covenants for the purpose of affording mutual guarantees of political 
independence and territorial integrity to great and small states alike. 

President Wilson in his address to Congress on February 11, 
1918, presented these four principles which are to be applied in 
arranging world peace : 

1. That each part of the final settlement must be based upon the 
essential justice of that particular case and upon such adjustments, as 
are most likely to bring a peace that will be permanent. 

2. That peoples and provinces are not to be bartered about from 
sovereignty to sovereignty as if they were mere chattels and pawns in a 
game, even the great game now forever discredited, of the balance of 
power; but that 

3. Every territorial settlement must be made in the interest and for 
the benefit of the populations concerned, and not as part of any mere 
adjustment or compromise of claims amongst rival states; and, 

4. That all well-defined national aspirations shall be accorded the 
utmost satisfaction that can be accorded them v/ithout introducing new or 
perpetuating old elements of discord and antagonism that would be Ukely 
in time to break the peace of Europe and consequently of the world. 

President Wilson, in his Liberty Loan address in New York 
on September 27th, thus stated this government's interpretation of 
its duty with regard to peace: 

1. The impartial justice meted out must involve no discrimination 
between those to whom we wish to be just and those to whom we do not 
wish to be just. It must be a justice that plays no favorites and knows 
no standard but the equal rights of the several peoples concerned; 

2. No special or separate interest of any single nation or any group 
of nations can be made the basis of any part of the settlement which is 
not consistent with the common interests of all; 

3. There can be no leagues or alliances or special covenants and under- 
standings within the general and common family of the League of Nations; 

4. And more specifically, there can be no special, selfish economic 



AMERICA'S POSITION IN WAR AND PEACE 683 

combinations within the league and no employment of any form of economic 
boycott or exclusion except as the power of economic penalty by exclusion 
from the markets of the world may be vested in the League of Nations 
itself as a means of discipline and control. 

5. All international agreements and treaties of every kind must be 
made known in their entirety to the rest of the world. 




THE WAR ZONE ESTABLISHED BY GERMANY, FEBRUARY, 1917, THAT 
BROUGHT AMERICA INTO THE WAR. 




CHAPTEH LVI 

The War by Years 

ERMANY'S military strength developed during forty 
years of preparation, and the offensive plans of the 
German High Command developed in connection with 
an extraordinary spy service in France, Belgium, Russia, 
England and the United States, culminated in a simultaneous 
campaign on land and by sea, affecting these five nations. 

AUGUST 1, 1914-AUGUST 1, 1915 

Belgium and Northern France were overrun by a German 
invading force under General von Kluck. The heroic effort of the 
French army under General Joffre and a supreme strategic thrust at 
the German center by General Foch turned back the German tide 
at the battle of the Marne. The scientific diabohsm of the German 
High Command was revealed when poison gas was projected against 
the Canadians at Ypres, torturing, blinding and killing thousands. 

German terrorism on the high seas culminated in the sinking 
of the Cunard hner Lusitania by a German submarine off the Irish 
coast. Men, women and children to the number of 1,152 lost their 
lives. Of these 102 were Americans. 

German colonies in South Africa were invaded by British South 
African troops under General Louis Botha, who during'' the Boer 
War commanded a division against the British. The German 
holdings at Tsing-Tau and in the Marshall Islands were seized by 
Japan. 

German cruisers that had raided sea-going commerce were 
destroyed. The most noted of these was the Emden, which was 
defeated and destroyed by the Australian cruiser Sydney off the 
Cocos Islands. 

German sea power was further humiliated in a running fight 
off Helgoland in which the battle cruiser Bliicher was sunk and 
in a battle off the Falkland Islands in which three German cruisers 
were destroyed. 

684 



THE WAR BY YEARS 685 

Italy entered the war on May 23, 1915, and invaded Austria on 
a sixty-mile front. Russian forces, after early successes, were 
defeated at Tannenburg by von Hindenburg, the outstanding 
military genius on the German side. 

The development of aircraft as an aid to artillery and as a 
destructive force on its own account, was rapid, and the use of 
machine guns and hand grenades in trench operations became 
general. 

AUGUST 1, 1915-AUGUST 1, 1916 

The tragic sea and land operations at the Dardanelles and 
Gallipoli marked this year with red in British history. Sir Douglas 
Haig succeeded Sir John French as Commander-in-Chief of British 
forces in France. The outstanding operation of the British forces 
on the western front was the bloody battle of the Somme, beginning 
July 1st, and continuing until the fall of 1915. The losses on both 
sides in that titanic struggle staggered two continents. Especially 
heroic were the attacks of the Canadians in that great battle and 
especially heavy were the losses in killed and wounded of the 
Canadian regiments. They ranked in magnitude with the depletion 
that came to the Australian and New Zealand armies in the fatal 
Gallipoli campaign. 

This year will be glorious forever in the annals of France 
because of the heroic defense at Verdun. That battle tested to the 
Umit the offensive strength of the German machine and it was 
found lacking in power to pierce the superhuman defense of the 
heroic French forces under Petain and Nivelle. 

Bulgaria entered the war on October 14, 1915, with a declaration 
of war against helpless Serbia. Greece, torn by internal dissensions, 
inclined first to one side, then to the other. The occupation of 
Saloniki by French and British expeditionary forces finally swung 
the archipelago to the Allies. 

A British Mesopotamian force under General Townshend, 
poorly equipped and unsupported, was cut off in Kut-el-Amara, and 
surrendered to the Turks on April 29, 1916. 

The Italian forces under General Cadorna made a sensational 
advance terminating in the capture of Gorizia. Portugal entered 
the war on the side of the Allies after it had refused to give up to 
Germany several German ships interned in Portuguese ports. 



686 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR 

An object lesson in German submarine possibilities was given 
America when the Deutschland, a super-submarine cargo vessel, 
arrived in Baltimore, Maryland, on July 9, 1916. The Deutschland 
later was converted into a naval submarine and re-visited American 
shores, sinking a number of merchant vessels. It was one of the 
German submarine fleet surrendered to the Allies in November, 1918. 

Russia proved itself to be a mihtary ineffective. German 
armies under von Mackensen and von Hindenburg occupied Warsaw, 
Brest-Litovsk, Lutsk, and Grodno. Grand Duke Nicholas was 
removed from the command of the Russian armies and Czar 
Nicholas assumed command. 

Germany's pretensions to sea power ended with the battle of 
Jutland, May 31, 1916, when its High Seas fleet fled after a running 
fight with British cruisers and destroyers. Never, thereafter, 
during the war did the German ships venture out of the Bight of 
Helgoland. 

AUGUST 1, 1916-AUGUST 1, 1917 

This year was marked by two dramatic episodes. The first 
of these was the sudden entrance and the equally sudden exit of 
Roumania as a factor in the World War. 

The second was the appearance of the United States which 
became the deciding factor in the war. 

Roumania created enthusiasm in Allied countries when it 
declared war on Austria-Hungary August 27th. A sudden descent 
by a Roumanian army into Transylvania on August 30th was 
hailed as the harbinger of further successes. These hopes were 
turned to ashes when von Mackensen headed an irresistible German 
and Austrian rush which fairly inundated Roumania. The retreat 
from Transylvania by the Roumanians was turned into a rout. 
Bulgarian forces invaded the Dobrudja region of Roumania and 
on November 28th the seat of the Roum^anian Government was 
transferred from Bucharest, the capital, to Jassy Roumania ceased 
to be a factor in the war on December 6th, when Bucharest fell to 
von Mackensen. Emperor Franz Josef of Austria-Hungary died 
on November 22d, v/hile Austrian hopes were at their highest. 

America's appearance as a belligerent was forecast on January 
31, 1917, when Germany announced its intention of sinking all 
vessels in a blockade zone around the British Isles. Count 



THE WAR BY YEARS 687 

von Bernstorff was handed his passports on February 3d, and 
on April 2d President Wilson, in a remarkable address to Con- 
gress, advised a declaration of war by the United States against 
Germany. This was consummated by a formal vote of Congress 
declaring war on April 6th. 

This action by America was followed by the organization of a 
Council of National Defense. Under this body the resources of the 
nation were mobilized. The council was later virtually abandoned 
as an organizing factor, its functions going to the War Industries 
Board, presided over by Bernard Baruch; the Fuel Administration, 
under Dr, Harry A. Garfield; the War Trade Board, with Vance C. 
McCormick at its head; and other governmental bodies. George 
Creel headed the Committee on PubUc Information. 

Conscription was decided upon as the foundation of America's 
war-making pohcy, and the training of officers and privates in great 
training camps was commenced. Great shipping and aircraft 
programs were formulated and the nation as a whole was placed 
upon a war footing. 

The Russian revolution beginning in bread riots in Petrograd, 
spread throughout that country, with the result that Russia dis- 
appeared as one of the Entente Allies. 

FROM AUGUST 1, 1917-NOVEMBER 11, 1918 

America's might and efficiency were revealed in the speed 
and thoroughness with which her military, naval and civilian 
resources were mobilized and thrown into the conflict. Under the 
supervision of the Chief of Staff, two million American soldiers 
received the final touches in their mifitary training and were trans- 
ported safely overseas. They became the decisive factor in the 
war during the summer and fall of 1918. To their glory be it 
recorded they never retreated. Chateau-Thierry, St. Mihiel, 
Siecheprey, Boureches Wood, Cantigny, Belleau Wood, the 
Argonne, Sedan and Stenay are names that will rank in Ameri- 
can history with Yorktown, New Orleans and Gettysburg. The 
''land of dollars" became over night the ''land of high ideals" to 
the civilized world. Lightless nights in cities, restriction of the 
use of gasoline on Sundays and dayhght-saving legislation linked 
civilians to soldiers in war effort. 

Italy suffered a severe reverse beginning October 24, 1917, 



688 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR 

when the German forces rushed through a portion of the Italian 
army that had been honey-combed with pro-German SociaUstic 
propaganda. 

Canada again emblazoned its name in history through the 
heroic capture of Passchendaele on November 6, 1917. 

The Russian revolution turned to the Bolsheviki when Lenine 
and Trotsky at the head of the Reds seized Petrograd on November 
7th and deposed Alexander Kerensky, leader of the Moderate 
Socialists. The Czar Nicholas was executed by the victorious 
Bolsheviki and the Imperial family made captives. 

The British Mesopotamian forces advanced into Palestine and 
Mesopotamia, destroying the Turkish army under Ahmed Bey in a 
battle terminating September 29, 1917. General Stanley Maude, 
the leader of the expedition, died in Mesopotamia November 18, 
1917. 

General AUenby commanding British and Arabian forces, 
routed and destroyed three Turkish armies in Palestine, capturing 
Jerusalem which had been held by the Turks for six hundred and 
seventy three years. 

The tiu-ning point of the war came on March 29, 1918, when 
General Foch was chosen Commander-in-Chief of all the Alhed 
forces. This followed Germany's great drive on a fifty-mile front 
from Arras to La Fere. Successive German thrusts were halted 
by the AlUed forces now strongly reinforced by Americans. 

Foch, patiently biding his time, elected to halt the German 
drive with Americans. The Marines of the United States forces 
were given the post of honor, and at Chateau-Thierry the counter- 
thrust of Foch was commenced by a complete defeat of the Prussian 
Guard and other crack German regiments, by the untried soldiers 
of America. 

From Chateau-Thierry to the armistice which went into 
effect at eleven o'clock on November 11th was only a short span 
of time, but in it was compressed the humiliation of arrogant 
Teutonic imperialism, the destruction of militaristic autocracy, 
and the liberation of the world. 



CHAPTER LVII 
Behind America's Battle Line 

GENERAL MARCh's OWN STORY OF THE WORK OF THE MILITARY 
INTELLIGENCE DIVISION — OF THE WAR PLANS DIVISION — OF THE 
PURCHASE AND TRAFFIC DIVISION — HOW MEN, MUNITIONS AND 
SUPPLIES REACHED THE WESTERN FRONT. 

T IS important that a general summary of America's niilitar3^ 
preparations, a detailed description of the operations behind 
the battle line and a detailed chronology of America's principal 
military operations in France during the year 1918 should 
be presented to the reader. Such a summary is afforded by the 
report of General Peyton C. March, Chief of Staff, United States 
Army, for the last year of the war. Addressing the Secretary of 
War, General March wrote in part: 

The signing of the armistice on November 11, 1918, has brought to a 
successful conclusion the most remarkable achievement in the history of 
all warfare. 

The entry of the United States into the war on April 6, 1917, found 
the Nation about as thoroughly unprepared for the great task which 
was confronting it as any great nation v/hich had ever engaged in war. 
Starting from a minimum of organized strength, within this short period 
of sixteen months the entire resources of the country in men, money, and 
munitions have been placed imder central control, and at the end of this 
period the Nation was in its full stride and had accomplished, from a 
military standpoint, what our enemy regarded as the impossible. The 
most important single thing, perhaps, in this record of accompHshment, 
was the immediate passage by Congress of the draft law, without which 
it would have been impossible to have raised the men necessary for victory. 
In organizing, training, and supplying the vast numbers of men made 
available by the draft law very many changes have been made necessary 
in the organization of the War Department and in the methods existing 
therein which were inherited from the times of profound peace. 

Shortly after my installation as Chief of Staff I adopted the prmciple 
of interchange of the personnel of the various staff corps of the War 
Department with men who had training in France, and in the application 
of this principle placed as the heads of various bureaus officers selected on 

689 



690 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR 

account of their ability and experience in the system of warfare as conducted 
in France. 

At this time, also, I found that the divisions organized in our armies 
were still regarded as separate units, designated by different titles in 
accordance with their origin. This made three different kinds of divisions 
in the United States army — the R,egular army, the National Guard, and 
National army divisions. All these distinctions were abolished and the 
entire army consohdated into a United States army, without regard to the 
source from which drawn. The source of supply of all replacements for 
the various elements of the army, without regard to their origin, was 
drafted men; and the titles had no significance whatever and were a 
source of possible disturbance from the standpoint of military efficiency. 
There was, in fact, no actual difference between these divisions with 
respect to efficiency — aU have done high-grade v/ork from whatever 
source drawn. All have shown courage and capacity for quick absorption 
of the fundamentals of modern military training and irresistible dash 
and force in actual fighting. . . . 

When I returned from France on March 1, 1918, 1 came back with the 
belief that the most fundamental necessity, both for the American Expedi- 
tionary Force and for the success of the allies, was that the shipment of 
troops to France should be vastly increased and should have priority 
over everything else; and as this policy became effective a study was 
instituted looking to our putting in France, if that was possible, enough 
men to bring the war to a conclusion in the shortest period possible. After 
a study of the entire situation, including as accurate an estimate of the 
potential strength of our allies on the western front and of the probable 
German strength as was possible, I came to the conclusion that the war 
might be brought to an end in 1919, provided we were able to land in 
France by June 30th of that year eighty American divisions of a strength 
of 3,360,000 men. On July 18, 1918, 1 submitted to you a formal memoran- 
dum, accompanied by a study of methods by which the men could be 
obtained, the supphes procured, and an analysis of the shipping which 
must be obtained in order to accompHsh this very large mihtary program. 
This was accompanied by an estimate of the cost of the proposed program. 

In this study I recommended to you the adoption, as the American 
program, of eighty divisions in France and eighteen at home by June 30, 
1919, based on a total strength of the American army of 4,850,000 men. 
This was approved by you and by the President of the United States 
and adopted as our formal mihtary program. To carry this program 
into effect required the adoption by Congress of a change in the draft 
ages so as to include men between the ages of eighteen and forty-five 
years, and also created a deficiency over the enormous appropriations 
already made by Congress of some $7,000,000,000. The presentation of 
the program to Congress, accompanied by the statement that this increase 
in the army, if laws were passed by Congress which would make it effective, 
would lead to success in 1919, produced prompt and favorable considera- 




Photo by International Film Service. 

THE SALVATION ARMY ON THE WESTERN FRONT 

A shell-proof dugout used as a rest room for soldiers. 




© Press Illustrating Service, N. Y. 

THE Y. M. C. A. IN THE FRONT LINE TRENCHES 
Instead of the usual hut the Y. M. C. A. sign beside the trench points the 
way to a dugout in which soldiers found the comforts which made the sign of the 
triangle famous. 



<D 


n 


^ 


^ 


^ 




m 


J 




s 


d 


ni 


<u 






o 
m 


^ 




0) 


0) 


pO 


^ 


ft 




s 






> 


^ 


'd 




^ 


JJ 




BEHIND AMERICA'S BATTLE LINE 693 

tion by that body. Up to the signing of the armistice troops were being 
transported to France monthly in accordance with that program. The 
results speak for themselves. . . . 

During the year, the most important in the history of the country 
both from a military and civil standpoint, there have been four heads 
of the General Staff: Major-General Hugh L. Scott, from the outbreak of 
the war until his retirement, September 22, 1917; General Tasker H. 
Bliss, from that date until May 19, 1918; Major-General John Biddle, 
Acting Chief of Staff at periods during the absence of General Bhss in 
France, from October 29, 1917, to December 16, 1917, and from January 
9, 1918, to March 3, 1918. I assimied the duties of Acting Chief of Staff 
on March 4, 1918, became Chief of Staff May 20, 1918, and have con- 
tinued on that duty since. 

It was evident, as the war progressed, that the General Staff was 
acting under an organization and in accordance with regulations which 
were not only unsuited to the duties and responsibilities confronting it, 
but were wholly out of date and were not suited to any General Staff 
organization. Successive revisions of the orders under which the General 
Staff was acting were made as events demanded, until the experience of 
the year crystallized the organization of the General Staff into that set 
forth in General Order No. 80 of the War Department. This order 
divides the work of the General Staff into four primary divisions: 1. Opera- 
tions; 2. Purchase, Storage, and Traffic; 3. Mihtary Intelligence; 4. War 
Plans. Each of these divisions is under the direction of a director, who 
is Assistant Chief of Staff and is a general officer. 

OPERATIONS DIVISION 

The Operations Division is under the charge of Major-General Henry 
Jervey, United States army, as Director of Operations and Assistant 
Chief of Staff. This division is a consolidation of the former Operations 
Committee and Equipment Committee, which pertained to the War 
College under the previous organization. The Operations Division has 
had charge of the increase in the personnel of the army during the year. 
On June 30, 1917, the Regular army consisted of 250,357 officers and 
enhsted men. On August 5, 1917, 379,323 officers and men of the National 
Guard were drafted into the Federal service. There were a few special 
drafts of smaU numbers of National Guardsmen into the Federal service 
after August 5, 1917. During the period covered by this report this 
division handled the calls into service of men obtained under the draft, 
the organization of these men into divisions and units necessary for the 
army, and tm-ned over for shipment overseas up to November 8, 1918, 
2,047,667 men. The grand total of men in the army from returns for the 
period ending October 15th is 3,624,774. This force was organized into 
divisions, the proper proportion of corps, army, and service of supply 
troops, and of replacement camps and training centers for Infantry, Field 
Artillery, and Machine Guns in the United States. Central officers' 



694 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR 

training schools were organized at each of the replacement camps. 
Replacement camps and training centers for the various staff depart- 
ments were also organized. Development battalions were organized at 
all division camps and large posts and camps for the purpose of developing 
men of poor physique and the instruction of illiterates and non-EngUsh- 
speaking men of the draft. During the fiscal year 5,377,468 officers and 
men were moved by raUroad to and from the camps. 

The Operations Division has during the year also handled all matters 
connected with the adoption of new types of equipment, fixing allowances 
for various units, the preparation of tables of equipment for them, and 
the distribution and issue of equipment, and the determination of priorities 
of such issue. 

It has supervised and studied the needs of camps and construction 
work therein, and this work in general has been characterized by marked 
ability and devotion to duty. 

PURCHASE, STORAGE AND TRAFFIC DIVISION 

The Division of Purchase, Storage and Traffic is under the charge of 
Major-General George W. Goethals, United States army, as Assistant 
Chief of Staff and Director of Purchase, Storage and Traffic. This 
division was organized by merging divisions previously created, and 
which had been called "Storage and Traffic" and "Purchase and Supply." 
The new division thus organized was subdivided into Embarkation Service, 
Storage, Inland Traffic Service, and Purchase and Supply Branch. 

Embarkation. — At the outbreak of the war the Quartermaster's 
Department had charge of the transportation of troops and supplies and 
continued to exercise these functions until August 4, 1917, when they 
were transferred to a separate division of the General Staff, specially 
created for the purpose, and designated as the Embarkation Servdce. 
As already noted, this was subsequently merged with the Storage and 
Traffic Division. 

Two primary ports of embarkation were established, one with head- 
quarters at Hoboken, N. J., and the other at Newport News, Va., each 
under the command of a general officer. 

The Quartermaster's Department was operating a service to Panama 
from New York, but with the shipment of troops to France a new condition 
arose which was met only in part by taking over the Hoboken piers, 
formerly owned by the Hamburg-American and North German Lloyd 
steamship companies, and the magnitude of the undertaldng necessitated 
additional f acihties. The situation at New York is compHcated by the large 
amount of general shipping using the port, the diversified interests, even 
those of the government, and the complicated jurisdiction. An effort was 
made to bring about such a consolidation and unification as to secure 
greater co-operation with increased efficiency. To this end the War 
Board for the Port of New York was established in November, 1917. 
It was vested with full power and authority to make rules and regulations 



BEHIND AMERICA'S BATTLE LINE 695 

for operating the facilities of the port, to determine priorities, and to do 
what was necessary to provide for the prompt and economical dispatch of 
the business of the government in and about the port. Mr. Irving T. 
Bush was selected as the board's representative, with the title of chief 
executive officer. In addition to representing the board he was to arrange 
for the co-operative use of piers, warehouses, lighterage, terminals, rail- 
roads, trucking, and all other transportation facihties in and about the port. 

In addition the need was felt for having a shipping expert closely 
associated with the Embarkation Service, famihar with the faciUties at 
various ports, so that he could properly assign ships, select ships for the 
cargo to be moved, and arrange for their loading. Mr. Joseph T. Lilly 
was selected for this work and appointed director of embarkation. 

In February, 1918, the available cargo ships were not sufficient to 
carry the supplies needed for maintainuig the troops overseas. To secure 
the requisite additional tonnage necessitated taking ships from the existing 
trade routes and determining from what imports and exports they could 
best be spared without interference with those which were absolutely 
necessary. This brought about a new situation which could be handled 
only by those having a knowledge of the trades as well as the characteristics 
of various ships serving them, since some of them were suitable for War 
Department needs and some were not. It had happened that an advanta- 
geous exchange of ships could have been made with the Allies by which 
valuable time could have been saved in getting over cargo, but there was 
lack of knowledge as weU as lack of authority. The whole situation was 
gone over at a conference between the Secretary of War and the chairman 
of the Shipping Board, as a result of which the Shipping Control Com- 
mittee was created, consisting of Mr. P. A. S. Franklin, chairman; Mr. 
H. H. Raymond; and Sir Connop Guthrie, representative of the Allies' 
shipping interests. The allocation and distribution of available tonnage, 
as well as questions of exchange of ships, was vested in this committee. 
So far as the work of the War Department was concerned the committee 
was charged with the loading and unloading cargo, coaUng, supplies, 
repairs, and, except where vessels are commanded by the navy, of 
inspection and manning. They also have charge of the management and 
operation of doclcs, piers, slips, loading and discharging facihties under 
the control of the department, or of any board, officers, or agency operating 
such facilities, together with the direction and management of minor 
craft to be used in connection with the handling of steamers and their 
cargoes in port. The amount of cargo shipped overseas, the efficiency of 
the loading, and the reduction of the time of stay in the ports attest to the 
efficient manner in which the committee has operated, and it is not too 
much to say that they are to be largely credited with the results that 
have been accomplished. . . . 

Expeditionary depots were operated at Boston, Mass.; Philadelphia, 
Pa., and Baltimore, Md., primarily for the movement of freight. When 
cargo ships having accommodations for troops were loaded at these ports 



696 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR 

troops for the available space were sent from the camps under the du-ection 
of the commanding general at Hoboken; similarly shipments of troops 
were made from Montreal, Canada, and Hahfax, Nova Scotia, when 
practicable. Cargo shipments were also made from other ports on the 
Atlantic and Gulf coasts. 

On May 25, 1918, the water transport branch of the Quartermaster's 
Department was transferred and made a part of the Embarkation 
Service. 

In April conditions abroad necessitated the speeding up shipments 
of troops, and brought to the service such transports as the British Govern- 
ment could spare for the purpose, which have been continued in use. 
The army transports are officered and manned by the navy, as is the 
greater number of the cargo ships. The arrangements for transferring 
ships to naval control as weU as for convoys for troop and cargo ships are 
handled through the Chief of Operations of the navy, who has given every 
assistance. The way in which the work has been handled by the navy is 
shown by the loss of no troop ships which were under their protection on 
the eastbound trips. . . . 

Inland Traffic— The inland traffic service was established on Jan- 
uary 10, 1918. As the government had taken over all of the railroads, 
the necessity for working in harmony with the organization that was 
placed in charge was apparent, and the Railroad Administration was 
requested to recommend a competent traffic man to handle the work. 
This resulted in the selection and assignment of Mr. H. M. Adams as 
chief of the section. He in turn secured his expert assistants through the 
Railroad Administration. 

At the time the section was formed approximately 15,000 carloads 
of War Department property held in cars were congesting various 
Atlantic ports. Steps were taken which relieved this condition and 
brought about an orderly movement of the traffic when and in the quantities 
desired. The value of the inland traffic service was soon demonstrated 
and led to a reorganization, with authority to take over the transportation 
organizations of the various bureaus of the War Department, both at 
Washington and throughout the country, so that as now organized the 
chief of the inland traffic service exercises direct control of the transporta- 
tion of troops, of the supplies of and for the various bureaus of the War 
Department, and for the contractors worldng for the several bureaus. This 
control extends over the entire country through the medium of representa- 
tives stationed at various traffic centers. 

Working in conjunction with the Raiboad Administration has resulted 
in minimizing the burdens of the carriers. The work has been performed 
most efficiently. More than 5,000,000 troops have been moved from their 
homes, from one camp to another, and from camps to the points of embarka- 
tion within the period covered by this report. 

Arrangements have been made by which this branch will take charge 
of all express movements for the War Department, as well as the tracing 



BEHIND AMERICA'S BATTLE LINE 697 

of the movements of all War Department property, including the con- 
tractors and others for the various bureaus. 

Purchase arid Supply. — The Purchase and Supply Branch is organized 
into the following subsections; Supply Program, Purchase, Production, 
Finance, and Emergency. 

MILITARY INTELLIGENCE DIVISION 

The Military Intelligence Division has as director Brigadier-General 
Marlborough Churchill, United States army, Assistant Chief of Staff. 
This division, which had been a branch, first of the War Plans Division 
and then of the Executive Division of the General Staff, was separated 
completely and made an independent division by general orders which 
reorganized the General Staff, thus putting the Military Intelligence 
Division on a par with similar services of general staffs of other nations 
of the world. 

The duties of the Mihtary Intelligence Division consist, in general, 
in the organization of the intelligence service, positive and negative, 
including the collection and coordination of military information; the 
supervision of the department intelligence officers and intelligence officers 
at posts, stations, camps, and with commands in the field, in matters 
relating to military intelligence; the direction of counter-espionage work; 
the preparation of instruction in military intelligence work for the use of 
our forces; the consideration of questions of policy promulgated by the 
General Staff in all matters of military intelligence; the co-operation with 
intelligence branches of the general staffs of other countries; the super- 
vision of the training of officers for intelligence duty, the obtaining and 
issuing of maps: and the disbursement of and accounting for intelligence 
funds. 

One of the important functions of the Director of the Military 
Intelligence Division is that of coordinating the work of this service 
with other intelligence agencies. Possible duphcations of work and 
investigation by the State Department, Treasury Department, Depart- 
ment of Justice, Navy Department, War Trade Board, and the War 
Department are avoided or adjusted at weekly conferences held at the 
Department of Justice and attended by representatives of these depart- 
ments who consider matters of common interest. For a similar purpose, 
the Director of Military Intelligence is a member of the Fire Prevention 
Committee, the War Industries Board, and the National Research Council. 

For the purpose of securing close co-operation between the military 
inteUigence services of the nations associated in the war, the British and 
French Governments were requested by the United States to send officers 
to this country for liaison duty. These officers have been of great assistance 
in accomplishing this end, because of their knowledge of the details of 
intelligence work in Europe. 

For the performance of the service for which the Military Intelligence 
Division was developed, eight sections have been established, each deal- 



698 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR 

ing with its peculiar problems, and working in close liaison with its 
fellows. . . . 

It may not be amiss to call attention to the enthusiastic co-operation 
which this division has consistently received from the various other 
intelligence agencies, civilian and others. The American Protective 
League, the Department of Justice, the Office of Naval Intelligence, 
the Customs, the War Trade Intelligence have all co-operated in the 
heartiest manner with each and every effort of the Military Intelligence 
Division. Indeed, it is hardly saying too much to state that the success 
of the Military Intelligence Division has in a very large measure been due 
to the loyal assistance which it has received at aU times from the various 
agencies whose functions are similar to its own. 

WAR PLANS DIVISION 

The War Plans Division of the General Staff is under the direction of 
Brigadier-General Lytle Brown, as Director and Assistant Chief of Staff. 
A very large volume of work has been accompHshed by this division 
during the year. [Exclusive of subjects pertaining to the historical branch, 
the inventions section, and routine matters, 9,287 cases were handled by the 
division during the year. 

These included studies as to policies for defend and the organization 
of the military forces in general as published in Tables of Organization, 
completed studies on the policy and plans for training the army in general, 
training replacement troops, training cadres, training centers, training 
schools, schools for senior and staff ofl&cers, and plans for physical recon- 
struction and vocational training of wounded soldiers. 

In addition, through the Training Section, the War Plans Division 
has supervision of training in general and has kept in touch by inspections 
by its officers with methods used and progress made. - : 

The Legislative, Regulations, and Rules Branch of the War Plans 
Division has handled numerous changes in Army Regulations and War 
Department orders made necessary by the present emergency, and has 
considered bills before Congress pertaining to the army. 

The Historical Branch of the General Staff was organized March 5, 
1918, to collect and compile the records pertaining to the war under the 
approved policy, and satisfactory progress is being made. To June 30, 
1918, 67,022 photographs and 2,590 feet of motion-picture film had been 
received. 

The Inventions Section was organized April 16, 1918. This section 
has taken over from the different agencies of the government the pre- 
liminary consideration of inventions and ideas of inventions of a mifitary 
nature, with a view to placing before the proper bureaus of the War 
Department those having sufficient military value to warrant test and 
development at the expense of the government. From April 16, 1918, 
to June 30, 1918, 4,645 cases were handled, a number of which were of 
exceptional merit and have already been put to use. . . , 



BEHIND AMERICA'S BATTLE LINE 699 

The Chief of Staff has as his principal assistant Major-General Frank 
Mclntyre, United States army, who acts as executive officer for the 
General Staff and also for the Chief of Staff in his absence. 

Beside the General Staff divisions which have been referred to in the 
foregoing, there has been established in the General Staff a Morale Section, 
under charge of Brigadier-General E. L. Munson, United States army, 
which has for its object primarily the stimulation of morale throughout the 
army, and maintaining a close connection and liaison with similar activities 
in civil Hfe. This section had only gotten fairly into operation before the 
signing of the armistice, but had already shown its value as a military asset. 

Another important addition to the organization of the General Staff 
has been the establishment of a Personnel Section, under charge of 
Brigadier-General P. P. Bishop, United States army. In this section has 
been consohdated the handHng of appointments, promotions, and com- 
missions of the entire official personnel of the United States army. This 
section has proved to be of the greatest value and has come to stay. . . . 

The signing of the armistice has interrupted the conclusion of the 
organization now under way for the consolidation of Procurement and 
Storage under the Director of Pm-chase, Storage, and Traffic, but the 
principle is sound from the standpoint of organization and extremely 
economical in its results. . . . 

The supply of officers for the very large military program has been 
throughout one of the most important problems which confronted the 
General Staff. I have already indicated in the statement of the functions 
of the Operations Di^dsion of the General Staff the organization of central 
training camps for officers throughout the United States. When, however, 
we embarked upon the final program of placing eighty divisions in France 
and eighteen at home by June 30, 1919, which involved an arm^y of approx- 
imately 4,800,000, the problem of the supply of officers became so serious 
that an understanding was obtained with the great mass of educational 
institutions throughout the United States, resulting in the development of 
the Student Army Training Corps. This scheme absorbed for military 
purposes the academic plants of some 518 colleges and universities through- 
out the country, and for vocational training in the army embraced some 
eighty more. This corps was put under the charge of Brigadier-General 
Robert I. Rees, United States army, and in its development we have had 
the energetic co-operation of college presidents and responsible college 
authorities throughout the entire United States. At the same time, in 
order to increase the supply of officers, the course at West Point was cut 
down to one year's intensive training, with the idea of placing at the 
disposal of the government 1,000 officers a year graduated from that 
extremely efficient plant rather than the graduation of about 200, which 
had been the case previously throughout the war. 

The separation of the Air Service from the Signal Corps, under the 
provisions of the Overman bill, and the establishment of a Bureau of 
Militaiy Aeronautics, under Major-General William L. Kenly, United 



700 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR 

States army, and of a Bureau of Aircraft Production, under Mr. John D. 
Ryan, marked an extremely important step forward in the development 
of this portion of the MiHtary Establishment. The armistice closes out 
this matter v/ith the two branches of the Air Service in a state of marked 
efficiency and establishes unquestionably the necessity for the permanent 
separation of the Air Service from the Signal Corps in the reorganization 
of the army. 

During this period another new agency created in the War Depart- 
ment by Executive order was the office of t^e Chief of Field Artillery. 
This office has been filled by Major-General William J. Snow, United 
States army. This establishment was accompanied by the creation in the 
American Expeditionary Force in France of the office of Chief of Artillery 
on General Pershing's staff, having similar relation to all the artillery of the 
Expeditionary Force which the Chief of Field Artillery has toward the 
mobile artillery at home. The work of this office has been accompanied 
by a marked increase in the efficiency of the training system in the various 
Field Artillery camps, and the offi-ce itself has proved to be of distinct value. 

I have directed the divisions of the General Staff concerned to study 
and submit for your consideration a plan for the reorganization of our 
army, which will take advantage of our experience in this war, which 
has brought about many changes in organization of all arms of the service, 
and has developed new arms not known when the war started. The 
Air Service, the Tank Corps, the development of heavy mobile artillery, 
the proper organization of divisions, corps, and armies, all will be set forth 
in the scheme which will be submitted to you with the recommendation 
that it be transmitted for the consideration of Congress. . . . 

The conduct of the American troops in France, their progressive 
development in military experience and ability, the fine staff work, and 
the modesty and gallantry of the individual soldier is a matter of pride to 
all Americans. General Pershing and his command have earned the 
thanks of the American people. 

The work of General Tasker H. Bliss as military representative of the 
War Department with the American Section of the Supreme War Council 
at Versailles has been of the greatest value to the War Department. 

I cannot close this report without making of record the appreciation of 
the War Department of the work of the many trained and patriotic officers 
of the army whom the destiny of war did not call to France. These officers, 
forced to remain behind in the United States by the imperative necessity 
of having trained men to keep the machine moving, have kept up their 
work with such intelligence, zeal, and devotion to duty as to show a high 
order of patriotism. The officers and men who have not been able on 
account of the armistice to be transported to France deserve also, with 
their comrades in France, the thanks of the American people. 



CHAPTER LVIIl 

General Pershing's Own Story* 

MMEDIATELY upon receiving my orders I selected a small 
staff and proceeded to Europe in order to become familiar with 
conditions at the earliest possible moment. 

The warmth of our reception in England and France was 
only equaled by the readiness of the commanders-in-chief of the 
veteran armies of the Alhes and their staffs to place their experience 
at our disposal. In consultation with them the most effective 
means of co-operation of effort was considered. With French and 
British armies at their maximum strength, and all efforts to dis-j 
possess the enemy from his firmly intrenched positions in Belgium 
and France failed, it was necessary to plan for an American force 
adequate to turn the scale in favor of the AlHes. Taking account of 
the strength of the central powers at that time, the immensity of 
the problem which confronted us could hardly be overestimated. 
The first requisite being an organization that could give intelligent 
direction to effort, the formation of a General Staff occupied my 
early attention. 

general staff 
A well-organized General Staff through which the commander 
exercises his functions is essential to a successful modern army. 
However capable our division, our battahon, and our companies 
as such, success would be unpossible without thoroughly coordi- 
nated endeavor. A General Staff broadly organized and trained 
for war had not hitherto existed in our army. Un'der the Com- 
mander-in-Chief, this staff must carry out the policy and direct 
the details of administration, supply, preparation, and operations 
of the army as a whole, with all special branches and bureaus 
subject to its control. As models to aid us we had the veteran 
French General Staff and the experience of the British who had 
similarly formed an organization to meet the demands of a great 

*From General Peiahing's official report to the Secretary of War, November 20, 1918. 

701 



702 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR 

army. By selecting from each the features best adapted to our 
basic organization, and fortified by our own early experience in the 
war, the development of our great General Staff system was 
completed. 

The General Staff is naturally divided into five groups, each 
with its chief who is an assistant to the Chief of the General 
Staff. G. 1 is in charge of organization and equipment of troops, 
replacements, tonnage, priority of overseas shipment, the auxil- 
iary welfare association and cognate subjects; G. 2 has censor- 
ship, enemy intelHgence, gathering and disseminating information, 
preparation of maps, and all similar subjects; G. 3 is charged with 
all strategic studies and plans, movement of troops, and the super- 
vision of combat operations; G. 4 coordinates important questions 
of supply, construction, transport arrangements for combat, and 
of the operations of the service of supply, and of hospitalization 
and the evacuation of the sick and wounded; G. 5 supervises the 
various schools and has general direction and coordination of 
education and training. 

The first Chief of Staff was Col. (now Maj.-Gen.) James G. 
Harbord, who was succeeded in March, 1918, by Maj.-Gen. James 
W. McAndrew. To these officers, to the deputy chief of staff, 
and to the assistant chiefs of staff, who, as heads of sections, aided 
them, great credit is due for the results obtained not only in perfect- 
ing the General Staff organization but in applying correct principles 
to the multiplicity of problems that have arisen. 

ORGANIZATION AND TRAINING 

After a thorough consideration of allied organizations it was 
decided that our combat division should consist of four regiments 
of infantry of 3,000 men, with three battalions to regiment and 
four companies of 250 men each to a battalion, and of an artillery 
brigade of three regiments, a machine-gun battahon, an engineer 
regiment, a trench-mortar battery, a signal battahon, wagon trains, 
and the headquarters staffs and military police. These, with 
medical and other units, made a total of over 28,000 men, or 
practically double the size of a French or German division. Each 
corps would normally consist of six divisions — four combat and one 
depot and one replacement division — and also two regiments of 
cavalry, and each army of from three to five corps. With four divi- 



GENERAL PERSHING'S OWN STORY 703 

sions fully trained, a corps could take over an American sector 
with two divisions in line and two in reserve, with the depot and 
replacement divisions prepared to fill the gaps in the ranks. 

Our purpose was to prepare an integral American force, which 
should be able to take the offensive in every respect. Accord- 
ingly, the development of a self-reHant infantry by thorough drill 
in the use of the rifle and in the tactics of open warfare was always 
uppermost. The plan of training after arrival in France allowed 
a division one month for accHmatization and instruction in small 
units from battalions down, a second month in quiet trench sectors 
by battahon, and a third month after it came out of the trenches 
when it should be trained as a complete division in war of move- 
ment. ... 

ARTILLERY, AIRPLANES, AND TANKS 

Our entry into the war found us with few of the auxiliaries 
necessary for its conduct in the modern sense. Among our most 
important deficiencies in material were artillery, aviation, and 
tanks. In order to meet our requirements as rapidly as possible, 
we accepted the offer of the French Government to provide us 
with the necessary artillery equipment of seventy-fives, one fifty- 
five millimeter howitzers, and one fifty-five G P F guns fron^ their 
own factories for thirty divisions. The wisdom of this course is 
fully demonstrated by the fact that, although we soon began the 
manufacture of these classes of guns at home, there were no guns 
of the calibers mentioned manufactured in America on our front 
at the date the armistice was signed. The only guns of these 
types produced at home thus far received in France are 109 seventy- 
five millimeter guns. 

In aviation we were in the same situation, and here again the 
French Government came to our aid until our own aviation program 
should be under way. We obtained from the French the necessary 
planes for training our personnel, and they have provided us with 
a total of 2,676 pursuit, observation, and bombing planes. The 
first airplanes received from home arrived in May, and altogether 
we have received 1,379. The first American squadron completely 
equipped by American production, including airplanes, crossed the 
German lines on August 7, 1918. As to tanks, we were also com- 
pelled to rely upon the French. Here, however, we were less fortu- 



704 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR 

nate, for the reason that the French production could barely meet 
the requirements of their own armies. 

It should be fully reaUzed that the French Government has 
always taken a most liberal attitude and has been most anxious to 
give us every possible assistance in meeting our deficiencies in these 
as well as in other respects. Our dependence upon France for 
artillery, aviation, and tanks was, of course, due to the fact that 
our industries had not been exclusively devoted to military pro- 
duction. All; credit is due our own manufacturers for their efforts 
to meet our requirements,' as at the time the armistic was signed 
we were able to look forward to the early supply of practically all 
our necessities from our own factories. 

The welfare of the troc^s touches my responsibility, as Com- 
mander-in-Chief to the mothers and fathers and kindred of th^ 
men who came to France in the impressionable period of youth. 
They could not have the privilege accorded European soldiers 
during their periods of leave of visiting their famiKes and renewing 
their home ties. Fully realizing that the standard of conduct that 
should be estabhshed for them must have a permanent influence 
in their lives and on the character of their future citizenship, the 
Red Cross, the Young Men's Christian Association, Knights of 
Columbus, the Salvation Army, and the Jewish Welfare Board, 
as auxiUaries in this work, were encouraged in every possible way. 
The fact that our soldiers, in a land of different customs and 
language, have borne themselves in a manner in keeping with the 
cause for which they fought, is due not only to the efforts in their 
behalf but much more to other high ideals, their discipline, and 
their innate sense of self-respect. It should be recorded, however, 
that the members of these weKare societies have been untiring in 
their desire to be of real service to our officers and men. The 
patriotic devotion of these representative men and women has 
given a new significance to the Golden Rule, and we owe to them a 
debt of gratitude that can never be repaid. 

COMBAT OPERATIONS 

During our periods of training in the trenches some of our 
divisions had engaged the enemy in local combats, the most impor- 
tant of which was Seicheprey by the Twenty-sixth on April 20th, in 
the Toul sector, but none had participated in action as a unit. 



GENERAL PERSHING'S OWN STORY 705 

The First Division, which had passed through the preUminary 
stages of training, had gone to the trenches for its first period of 
instruction at the end of October and by March 21st, when the 
German offensive in Picardy began, we had four divisions with 
experience in the trenches, all of which were equal to any demands 
of battle action. The crisis which this offensive developed was 
such that our occupation of an American sector must be postponed. 

On March 28th I placed at the disposal of Marshal Foch, 
who had been agreed upon as Commander-in-Chief of the AlHed 
armies, all of our forces to be used as he might decide. At his 
request the First division was transferred from the Toul sector to a 
position in reserve at Chaumont en Vexin. As German superiority 
in numbers required prompt action, an agreement was reached at 
the Abbeville conference of the Alhed premiers and commanders and 
myself on May 2d by which British shipping was to transport ten 
American divisions to the British army area, where they were to 
be trained and equipped, and additional British shipping was to be 
provided for as many divisions as possible for use elsewhere. 

On April 26th the First Division had gone into the hne in 
the Montdidier salient on the Picardy battle front. Tactics had 
been suddenly revolutionized to those of open warfare, and our 
men, confident of the results of their training, were eager for the 
test. On the morning of May 28th this division attacked the 
commanding German position in its front, taking with splendid 
dash the town of Cantigny and all other objectives, which were 
organized and held steadfastly against vicious counter-attacks and 
gaUing artillery fire. Although local, this brilliant action had an 
electrical effect, as it demonstrated our fighting qualities under 
extrem^e battle conditions, and also that the enemy's troops were 
not altogether invincible. 

The Germans' Aisne offensive, which began on May 27th, 
had advanced rapidly toward the River Marne and Paris, and 
the Allies faced a crisis equally as grave as that of the Picardy 
offensive in March. Again every available man was placed at 
Marshal Foch's disposal, and the Third Division, which had just 
come from its preliminary training in the trenches, was hurried to 
the Marne. Its motorized machine-gun battalion preceded the 
other units and successfully held the bridge-head at the Marne, 
opposite Chateau-Thierry. The Second Division, in reserve near 



706 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR 

Montdidier, was sent by motor trucks and other available transport 
to check the progress of the enemy toward Paris The division 
attacked and retook the town and railroad station at Bouresches 
and sturdily held its ground against the enemy's best guard divi- 
sions. In the battle of Belleau Wood, which followed, our men 
proved their superiority and gained a strong tactical position, with 
far greater loss to the enemy than to ourselves. On July 1st, 
before the Second was relieved, it captured the village of Vaux 
with most splendid precision. 

Meanwhile our Second Corps, under Maj.-Gen. George W. 
Read, had been organized for the command of our divisions with 
the British, which were held back in training areas or assigned 
to second-line defenses. Five of the ten divisions were withdrawn 
from the British area in June, three to relieve divisions in Lorraine 
and the Vosges and two to the Paris area to join the group of 
American divisions which stood between the city and any farther 
advance of the enemy in that direction. 

The great June-July troop movement from the States was 
well under way, and, although these troops were to be given some 
preliminary training before being put into action, their very pres- 
ence warranted the use of all the older divisions in the confidence 
that we did not lack reserves. Elements of the Forty-second 
Division were in the line east of Rheims against the German 
offensive of July 15th, and held their ground unflinchingly. On 
the right flank of this offensive four companies of the Twenty-eighth 
Division were in position in face of the advancing waves of the 
German infantry. The Third Division was holding the bank of 
the Marne from the bend east of the mouth of the SurmeHn to the 
west of Mezy, opposite Chateau-Thierry, where a large force of 
German infantry sought to force a passage under support of powerful 
artillery concentrations and under cover of smoke screens. A 
single regiment of the Third wrote one of the most brilliant pages in 
our military annals on this occasion. It prevented the crossing at 
certain points on its front while, on either flank, the Germans, who 
had gained a footing, pressed forward. Our men, firing in three 
directions, met the German attacks with counter-attacks at critical 
points and succeeded in throwing two German divisions into com- 
plete confusion, capturing 600 prisoners. 

The great force of the German Chateau-Thierry offensive 



GENERAL PERSHING'S OWN STORY 707 

established the deep Marne salient, but the enemy was taking 
chances, and the vulnerabiUty of this pocket to attack might be 
turned to his disadvantage. Seizing this opportunity to support 
my conviction, every division with any sort of training was made 
available for use in a counter-offensive. The place of honor in the 
thrust toward Soissons on July 18th was given to our First and 
Second divisions in company with chosen French divisions. With- 
out the usual brief warning of a preliminary bombardment, the 
massed French and American artillery, firing by the map, laid down 
its rolling barrage at dawn while the infantry began its charge. 
The tactical handhng of our troops under these trying conditions 
was excellent throughout the action. The enemy brought up large 
numbers of reserves and made a stubborn defense both with 
machine guns and artillery, but through five days' fighting the 
First Division continued to advance until it had gained the heights 
above Soissons and captured the village of Berzy-le-sec. The 
Second Division took Beau Repaire farm and Vierzy in a very 
rapid advance and reached a position in front of Tigny at the end 
of its second day. These two divisions captured 7,000 prisoners 
and over 100 pieces of artillery. 

The Twenty-sixth Division, which, with a French division, 
was under command of our First Corps, acted as a pivot of the 
movement toward Soissons. On the 18th it took the village of 
Torcy while the Third Division was crossing the Marne in pursuit 
of the retiring enemy. The Twenty-sixth attacked again on the 
21st, and the enemy withdrew past the Chateau-Thierry-Soissons 
road. The Third Division, continuing its progress, took the 
heights of Mont St. Pere and the villages of Charteves and Jaul- 
gonne in the face of both machine-gun and artillery fire. 

On the 24th, after the Germans had fallen back from Trugny 
and Epieds, our Forty-second Division, which had been brought 
over from the Champagne, relieved the Twenty-sixth and, fighting 
its way through the Foret de Fere, overwhelmed the nest of machine 
guns in its path. By the 27th it had reached the Ourcq, whence 
the Third and Fourth divisions were already advancing, while 
the French divisions with which we were co-operating were moving 
forward at other points. 

The Third Division had made its advance into Roncheres 
Wood on the 29th and was relieved for rest by a brigade of the 



708 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR 

Thirty-second. The Forty-second and Thirty-second undertook 
the task of conquermg the heights beyond Cierges, the Forty-second 
capturing Sergy and the Thirty-second capturing Hill 230, both 
American divisions joining in the pursuit of the enemy to the Vesle, 
and thus the operation of reducing the salient was finished. Mean- 
while the Forty-second was relieved by the Fourth at Ch^ry- 
Chartreuve, and the Thirty-second by the Twenty-eighth, while 
the Seventy-seventh Division took up a position on the Vesle. 
The operations of these divisions on the Vesle were under the 
Third Corps, Maj.-Gen. Robert L. BuUard, commanding. 

BATTLE OF ST. MIHIEL 

With the reduction of the Marne salient we could look forward 
to the concentration of our divisions in our own zone. In view of 
the forthcoming operation against the St. Mihiel saUent, which 
had long been planned as our first offensive action on a large scale, 
the First Army was organized on August 10th under my personal 
command. While American units had held different divisional 
and corps sectors along the western front, there had not been up to 
this time, for obvious reasons, a distinct American sector; but, in 
view of the important parts the American forces were now to play, 
it was necessary to take over a permanent portion of the line. 
Accordingly, on August 30th, the line beginning at Port sur Seille, 
east of the Moselle and extending to the west through St. Mihiel, 
thence north to a point opposite Verdun, was placed under my com- 
mand. The American sector was afterwards extended across the 
Meuse to the western edge of the Argonne Forest, and included the 
Second Colonial French, which held the point of the salient, and 
the Seventeenth French Corps, which occupied the heights above 
Verdun. 

The preparation for a complicated operation against the for- 
midable defenses in front of us included the assembling of divisions 
and of corps and army artillery, transport, aircraft, tanks, ambu- 
lances, the location of hospitals, and the molding together of all of 
the elem.ents of a great modern army with its own railheads, sup- 
plied directly by our own Service of Supply. The concentration 
for this operation, which was to be a surprise, involved the move- 
ment, mostly at night, of approximately 600,000 troops, and 
required for its success the most careful attention to every detail. 




© Committee on Public Information. 

THE AMERICAN COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF IN THE FIELD 
Photograph of General John J. Pershing Just after he had been decorated 
with the Star and Ribbon of the Legion of Honor of France, the highest decoration 
ever awarded an American soldier. General Pershing was raised to a full general- 
ship soon after his arrival in France, an honor which has previously been held 
only by Washington, Grant, Sherman and Sheridan. 




NOTED AMERICAN GENERALS 

General March is chief of staff of the American Army, Lieutenant- 
Generals Liggett and BuUard commanded the First and Second Armiea 
respectively, and major-generals Wright and Read are corps commanders. 



GENERAL PERSHING'S OWN STORY 711 

The French were generous in giving us assistance in corps and 
army artillery, with its personnel, and we were confident from the 
start of our superiority over the enemy in guns of all caUbers. Our 
heavy guns were able to reach Metz and to interfere seriously 
with German rail movements. The French Independent Air Force 
was placed under my conamand which, together with the British 
bombing squadrons and our air forces, gave us the largest assembly 
of aviation that had ever been engaged in one operation on the 
western front. 

From Les Eparges around the nose of the salient at St. Mihiel 
to the Moselle River the line was roughly forty miles long and sit- 
uated on commanding grounci greatly strengthened by artificial 
defenses. Om* First Corps (Eighty-second, Ninetieth, Fifth, and 
Second divisions) under command of Major-General Hunter 
Liggett, restrung its right on Pont-a-Mousson, with its left joining 
our Third Corps (the Eighty-ninth, Forty-second, and First divi- 
sions), under Major-General Joseph T. Dickman, in Hne to Xivray, 
were to swing in toward VigneuUes on the pivot of the Moselle 
River for the initial assault. From Xivray to Mouilly the Second 
Colonial French Corps was in line in the center and our Fifth Corps, 
under command of Major-General George H. Cameron, with our 
Twenty-sixth Division and a French division at the western base 
of the salient, were to attack three difficult hills — Les Eparges, 
Combres, and Amaramthe. Our First Corps had in reserve the 
Seventy-eighth Division, our Fourth Corps the Third Division^ 
and our First Army the Thirty-fifth and Ninety-first Divisions, 
with the Eightieth and Thirty-third available. It should be under- 
stood that our corps organizations are very elastic, and that we 
have at no time had permanent assignments of divisions to corps. 

After four hours' artillery preparation, the seven American 
divisions in the front fine advanced at 5 a. m., on September 12th, 
assisted by a Hmited number of tanks manned partly by Americans 
and partly by the French. These divisions, accompanied by groups 
of wire cutters and others armed with bangalore torpedoes, went 
through the successive bands of barbed wire that protected the 
enemy's front line and support trenches, in irresistible waves on 
schedule time, breaking down all defense of an enemy demoralized 
by the great volume of our artillery fire and our sudden approach 
out of the fog. 



712 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR 

Our First Corps advanced to Thiaucourt, while our Fourth 
Corps curved back to the southwest through Nonsard. The 
Second Colonial French Corps made the sHght advance required 
of it on very diJEQcult ground, and the Fifth Corps took its three 
ridges and repulsed a counter-attack. A rapid march brought 
reserve regiments of a division of the Fifth Corps into VigneuUes 
in the early morning, where it linked up with patrols of our Fourth 
Corps, closing the salient and forming a new Hne west of Thiaucourt 
to VigneuUes and beyond Fresnes-en-Woevre. At the cost of only 
7,000 casualties, mostly light, we had taken 16,000 prisoners and 
443 guns, a great quantity of material, released the inhabitants of 
many villages from enemy domination, and established our lines 
in a position to threaten Metz. This signal success of the American 
First Army in its first offensive was of prime importance. The 
Allies found they had a formidable army to aid them, and the 
enemy learned finally that he had one to reckon with. 

MEUSE-ARGONNE OFFENSIVE, FIRST PHASE 

On the day after we had taken the St. Mihiel salient, much of 
our corps and army artillery which had operated at St. Mihiel, 
and our divisions in reserve at other points, were already on the 
move toward the area back of the line between the Meuse River 
and the western edge of the forest of Argonne. With the exception 
of St. Mihiel, the old German front line from Switzerland to the 
east of Rheims was still intact. In the general attack all along the 
line, the operation assigned the American army as the hinge of 
this Alhed offensive was directed toward the important railroad 
communications of the German armies through M^zieres and Sedan. 
The enemy must hold fast to this part of his lines or the withdrawal 
of his forces with four years' accumulation of plants and material 
would be dangerously imperiled. 

The German army had as yet shown no demoralization and, 
while the mass of its troops had suffered in morale, its first-class 
divisions, and notably its machine-gun defense, were exhibiting 
remarkable tactical efficiency as well as courage. The German 
General Staff was fully aware of the consequences of a success on 
the Meuse-Argonne line. Certain that he would do everjrthing in 
his power to oppose us, the action was planned with as much secrecy 
as possible and was undertaken with the determination to use all 



GENERAL PERSHING'S OWN STORY 713 

our divisions in forcing decision. We expected to draw the best 
German divisions to our front and to consume them while the 
enemy was held under grave apprehension lest our attack should 
break his line, which it was our firm purpose to do. . . . 

Our right flank was protected by the Meuse, while our left 
embraced the Argonne Forest whose ravines, hills, and elaborate 
defense screened by dense thickets had been generally considered 
impregnable. Our order of battle from right to left was the Third 
Corps from the Meuse to Malancourt, with the Thirty-third, 
Eightieth, and Fourth divisions in line, and the Third Division as 
corps reserve; the Fifth Corps from Malancourt to Vauquois, with 
Seventy-ninth, Eighty-seventh, and Ninety-first divisions in line, 
and the Thirty-second in corps reserve; and the First Corps, from 
Vauquois to Vienne le Chateau, with Thirty-fifth, Twenty-eighth, 
and Seventy-seventh divisions in line, and the Ninety-second in 
corps reserve. The army reserve consisted of the First, Twenty- 
ninth, and Eighty-second divisions. 

On the night of September 25th our troops quietly took the 
place of the French who thinly held the line in this sector which 
had long been inactive. In the attack which began on the 26th 
we drove through the barbed wire entanglements and the sea of 
shell craters across No Man's Land, mastering the first-Hne defenses. 
Continuing on the 27th and 28th, against machine guns and artillery 
of an increasing number of enemy reserve divisions, we penetrated 
to a depth of from three to seven miles, and took the village of 
Montfaucon and its commanding hill and Exermont, Gercourt, 
Cuisy, Septsarges, Malancourt, Ivoiry, Epinonville, Charpentry, 
Very, and other villages. East of the Meuse one of our divisions, 
which was with the Second Colonial French Corps, captured Marche- 
ville and Rieville, giving further protection to the flank of our 
main body. We had taken 10,000 prisoners, we had gained our 
point of forcing the battle into the open and were prepared for the 
enemy's reaction, which was bound to come as he had good roads 
and ample railroad facilities for bringing up his artillery and 
reserves. ■-.;:* -r .-: ■ "r^p .: ., ., . ' ; 

In the chill rain of dark nights our engineers had to build 
new roads across spongy, shell-torn areas, repair broken roads 
beyond No Man's Land, and build bridges. Our gunners, with no 
thought of sleep, put their shoulders to wheels and dragropes to 



714 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR 

bring their guns through the mire in support of the infantry, now 
under the increasing fire of the enemy's artillery. Our attack had 
taken the enemy by surprise, but, quickly recovering himself, he 
began to fire counter-attacks in strong force, supported by heavy 
bombardments, with large quantities of gas. From September 28th 
until October 4th we maintained the offensive against patches of 
woods defended by snipers and continuous lines of machine guns, 
and pushed forward our guns and transport, seizing strategical 
points in preparation for further attacks. 

OTHEE UNITS WITH ALLIES 

Other divisions attached to the Allied armies were doing their 
part. It vras the fortune of our Second Corps, composed of the 
Twenty-seventh and Thirtieth divisions, which had remained with 
the British, to have a place of honor in co-operation with the Aus- 
tralian Corps, on September 29th and October 1st, in the assault on 
the Hindenburg line where the St. Quentin Canal passes through 
a tunnel imder a ridge. The Thirtieth Division speedily broke 
through the main line of defense for all its objectives, while the 
Twenty-seventh pushed on impetuously through the main line until 
some of its elements reached Gouy. In the midst of the maze of 
trenches and shell craters and under cross-fire from machine guns 
the other elements fought desperately against odds. In this and in 
later actions, from October 6th to October 19th, our Second Corps 
captured over 6,000 prisoners and advanced over thirteen miles. 
The spirit and aggressiveness of these divisions have been highly 
praised by the British army commander under whom they served. 

On October 2d to 9th our Second and Thirty-sixth divisions 
were sent to assist the French in an important attack against the 
old German positions before Rheims. The Second conquered the 
compHcated defense works on their front against a persistent defense 
worthy of the grimmest period of trench warfare and attacked the 
strongly held wooded hill of Blanc Mont, which they captured in a 
second assault, sweeping over it with consummate dash and skill. 
This division then repulsed strong counter-attacks before the 
village and cemetery of Ste. Etienne and took the town, forcing the 
Germans to fall back from before Rheims and yield positions they 
had held since September, 1914. On October 9th the Thirty-sixth 
Division relieved the Second and, in its first experience under fire. 



GENERAL PERSHING'S OWN STORY 715 

withstood very severe artillery bombardment and rapidly took up 
the pursuit of the enemy, now retiring behind the Aisne. 

MEUSE-ARGONNE OFFENSIVE, SECOND PHASE 

The AlUed progress elsewhere cheered the efforts of our men 
in this crucial contest as the German command threw in more and 
more first-class troops to stop our advance. We made steady head- 
way in the almost impenetrable and strongly held Argonne Forest, 
for, despite this reinforcement, it was our army that was doing the 
driving. Our aircraft was increasing in skill and numbers and 
forcing the issue, and our infantry and_ artillery were improving 
rapidly with each new experience. The replacements fresh from 
home were put into exhausted divisions with little time for training, 
but they had the advantage of serving beside men who knew their 
business and who had almost become veterans over night. The 
enemy had taken every advantage of the terrain, which especially 
favored the defense, by a prodigal use of machine guns manned by 
highly- trained veterans and by using his artillery at short ranges. 
In the face of such strong frontal positions we should have been 
unable to accompUsh any progress according to previously accepted 
standards, but I had every confidence in our aggressive tactics and 
the courage of our troops. 

On October 4th the attack was renewed all along our front. 
The Third Corps tilting to the left followed the BrieuUes-Cunel 
road; our Fifth Corps took Gesnes while the First Corps advanced 
for over two miles along the irregular valley of the Aire River and 
in the wooded hills of the Argonne that bordered the river, used by 
the enemy with all his art and weapons of defense. This sort of 
fighting continued against an enemy striving to hold every foot of 
ground and whose very strong counter-attacks challenged us at 
every point. On the 7th the First Corps captured Chatel-Cheh^ry 
and continued along the river to Cornay. On the east of Mouse 
sector one of the two divisions co-operating with the French 
captured Consenvoye and the Haumont Woods. On the 9th the 
Fifth Corps, in its progress up the Aire, took Fl^viUe, and the 
Third Corps, which had continuous fighting against odds, was 
working its way through Brieulles and Cunel. On the 10th we had 
cleared the Argonne Forest of the enemy. 

It was now necessary to constitute a second army, and on 



716 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR 

October 9th the immediate command of the First Army was turned 
over to Lieutenant-General Hunter Liggett. The command of the 
Second Army, whose divisions occupied a sector in the Woevre, 
was given to Lieutenant-General Robert L. BuUard, who had been 
conamander of the First Division and then of the Third Corps. 
Major-General Dickman was transferred to the command of the 
First Corps, while the Fifth Corps was placed under Major-General 
Charles P. Summerall, who had recently commanded the First 
Division. Major-General John L. Hines, who had gone rapidly up 
from regimental to division commander, was assigned to the Third 
Corps. These four officers had been in France from the early days 
of the expedition and had learned their lessons in the school of 
practical warfare. 

Our constant pressure against the enemy brought day by day 
more prisoners, mostly survivors from machine-gun nests captured 
in fighting at close quarters. On October ISth^^there was very 
fierce fighting in the Camres Woods east of the Meuse and in the 
Ormont Woods. On the 14th the First Corps took St. Juvin, and 
the Fifth Corps, in hand-to-hand encounters, entered the formidable 
Kriemhilde line, where the enemy had hoped to check us indefinitely. 
Later the Fifth Corps penetrated further the Kriemhilde line, and 
the First Corps took ChampigneuUes and the important town of 
Grandpre. Our dogged offensive was wearing down the enemy, who 
continued desperately to throw his best troops against us, thus weak- 
ening his line in front of our Allies and making their advance less 
difficult. / 

DIVISIONS IN BELGIUM 

Meanwhile we were not only able to continue the battle, but 
our Thirty-seventh and Ninety-first divisions were hastily with- 
drawn from our front and dispatched to help the French army 
in Belgium. Detraining in the neighborhood of Ypres, these divi- 
sions advanced by rapid stages to the fighting fine and were assigned 
to adjacent French corps. On October 31st, in continuation of 
the Flanders offensive, they attacked and methodically broke down 
all enemy resistance. On November 3d the Thirty-seventh had 
completed its mission in dividing the enemy across the Escaut 
River and firmly established itself along the east bank included in 
the division zone of action. By a clever flanking movement troops 



GENERAL PERSHING'S OWN STORY 717 

of the Ninety-first Division captured Spitaals Bosschen, a difficult 
wood extending across the central part of the division sector, reached 
the Escaut, and penetrated into the town of Audenarde. These 
divisions received high commendation from their corps commanders 
for their dash and energy. 

MEUSE ARGONNE — LAST PHASE 

On the 23d the Third and Fifth corps pushed northward to the 
level of Bantheville. While we continued to press forward and 
throw back the enemy's violent counter-attacks with great loss to 
him, a regrouping of our forces was under way for the final assault. 
Evidences of loss of morale by the enemy gave our men more confi- 
dence in attack and more fortitude in enduring the fatigue of inces- 
sant effort and the hardships of very inclement weather. 

With comparatively well-rested divisions, the final advance in 
the Meuse-Argonne front was begun on November 1st. Our 
increased artillery force acquitted itself magnificently in support 
of the advance, and the enemy broke before the determined infantry, 
which, by its persistent fighting of the past weeks and the dash 
of this attack, had overcome his will to resist. The Third Corps 
took Aincreville, Doulcon, and Andevanne, and the Fifth Corps 
took Landres et St. Georges and pressed through successive lines 
of resistance to Bayonville and Chennery. On the 2d the First Corps 
joined in the movement, which now became an impetuous onslaught 
that could not be stayed. 

On the 3d advance troops surged forward in pursuit, some by 
motor trucks, while the artillery pressed along the country roads 
close behind. The First Corps reached Authe and Chatillon-Sur- 
Bar, the Fifth Corps, Fosse and Nouart, and the Third Corps Halles, 
penetrating the enemy's line to a depth of twelve miles. Our large 
cahber guns had advanced and were skilfully brought into position 
to fire upon the important lines at Montmedy, Longuyon, and 
Conflans. Our Third Corps crossed the Meuse on the 5th and the 
other corps, in the full confidence that the day was theirs, eagerly 
cleared the way of machine guns as they swept northward, maintain- 
ing complete coordination throughout. On the 6th, a division of 
the First Corps reached a point on the Meuse opposite Sedan, 
twenty-five miles from our line of departure. The strategical goal 
which was our highest hope was gained. We had cut the enemy's 



718 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR 

main line of communications, and nothing but surrender or an 
armistice could save his army from complete disaster. 

In all forty enemy divisions had been used against us in the 
Meuse-Argonne battle. Between September 26th and November 
6th we took 26,059 prisoners and 468 guns on this front. Our 
divisions engaged were the First, Second, Third, Fourth, Fifth, 
Twenty-sixth, Twenty-eighth, Twenty-ninth, Thirty-second, Thirty- 
third, Thirty-fifth, Thirty-seventh, Forty-second, Seventy-seventh, 
Seventy-eighth, Seventy-ninth, Eightieth, Eighty-second, Eighty- 
ninth, Ninetieth, and Ninety-first. Many of our divisions remained 
in line for a length of time that required nerves of steel, while others 
were sent in again after only a few days of rest. The First, Fifth, 
Twenty-sixth, Forty-second, Seventy-seventh, Eightieth, Eighty- 
ninth, and Ninetieth were in the fine twice. Although some of the 
divisions were fighting their first battle, they soon became equal 
to the best. 

OPERATIONS EAST OF THE METJSE 

On the three days preceding November 10th, the Third, the 
Second Colonial, and the Seventeenth French corps fought a difii- 
cult struggle through the Meuse Hills south of Stenay and forced 
the enemy into the plain. Meanwhile, my plans for further use 
of the American forces contemplated an advance between the Meuse 
and the Moselle in the direction of Longwy by the First Army, 
while, at the same time, the Second Army should assure the offensive 
toward the rich coal fields of Briey. These operations were to be 
followed by an offensive toward Chateau-Salirs east of the Moselle, 
thus isolating Metz., Accordingly, attacks on the American front 
had been ordered and that of the Second Army was in progress on 
the morning of November 11th, when instructions were received 
that hostilities should cease at 11 o'clock a. m. 

At this moment the fine of the American sector, from right to 
left, began at Port-Sur-Seille, thence across the Moselle to Van- 
dieres and through the Woevre to Bezonvaux in the foothills of 
the Meuse, thence along to the foothills and through the northern 
edge of the Woevre forests to the Meuse at Mouzay, thence along the 
Meuse connecting with the French under Sedan. . . . 



GENERAL PERSHING'S OWN STORY 719 

There are in Europe altogether, including a regiment and some 
sanitary units with the Italian army and the organizations at Mur- 
mansk, also including those en route from the States, approximately 
2,053,347 men, less our losses. Of this total there are in France 
1,338,169 combatant troops. Forty divisions have arrived, of which 
the infantry personnel of ten have been used as replacements, 
leaving thirty divisions now in France organized into three armies 
of three corps each. 

The losses of the Americans up to November 18th are: Killed 
and wounded, 36,145; died of disease, 14,811; deaths unclassified, 
2,204; wounded, 179,625; prisoners, 2,163; missing, 1,160. We 
have captured about 44,000 prisoners and 1,400 guns, howitzers 
and trench mortars. . . . 

Finally, I pay the supreme tribute to our officers and soldiers 
of the line. When I think of their heroism, their patience under 
hardships, their unflinching spirit of offensive action, I am filled 
with emotion which I am unable to express. Their deeds are im- 
mortal, and they have earned the eternal gratitude of our country. 



CHAPTER LIX 
President Wilson's Review of the War 

ON DECEMBER 2, 1918, just prior to sailing for Europe to 
I take part in the Peace Conference, President Wilson 
addressed Congress, reviewing the work of the American 
people, soldiers, sailors and civilians, in the World War 
which had been brought to a successful conclusion on November 
11th. His speech, in part, follows: 

"The year that has elapsed since I last stood before you to fulfil 
my constitutional duty to give to the Congress from time to time 
information on the state of the Union has been so crowded with 
great events, great processes and great results that I cannot hope 
to give you an adequate picture of its transactions or of the far- 
reaching changes which have been wrought in the life of our Nation 
and of the world. You have yourselves witnessed these things, as 
I have. It is too soon to assess them; and we who stand in the 
midst of them and are part of them are less qualified than men of 
another generation will be to say what they mean or even what 
they have been. But some great outstanding facts are unmis- 
takable and constitute in a sense part of the public business with 
which it is our duty to deal. To state them is to set the stage for 
the legislative and executive action which must grow out of them 
and which we have yet to shape and determine. 

"A year ago we had sent 145,918 men overseas. Since then we 
have sent 1,950,513, an average of 162,542 each month, the num- 
ber in fact rising in May last to 245,951, in June to 278,760, in 
July to 307,182 and continuing to reach similar figures in August 
and September — in August 289,570 and in September 257,438. 
No such movement of troops ever took place before, across 3,000 
miles of sea, followed by adequate equipment and supplies, and 
carried safely through extraordinary dangers of attack, dangers 
which were ahke strange and infinitely difficult to guard against. 
In all this movement only 758 men were lost by enemy attacks, 

720 



PRESIDENT'S REVIEW OF THE WAR 721 

630 of whom were upon a single English transport which was 
sunk near the Orkney Islands. 

"I need not tell you what lay back of this great movement of 
men and material. It is not invidious to say that back of it lay a 
supporting organization of the industries of the country and of all 
its productive activities more complete, more thorough in method 
and effective in results, more spirited and unanimous in purpose 
and effort than any other great belligerent had ever been able to 
effect. We profited greatly by the experience of the nations which 
had aheady been engaged for nearly three years in the exigent 
and exacting business, their every resource and every proficiency 
taxed to the utmost. We were the pupils. But we learned quickly 
and acted with a promptness and a readiness of co-operation that 
justify our great pride that we were able to serve the world with 
unparalleled energy and quick accomplishment. 

"But it is not the physical scale and executive efficiency of 
preparation, supply, equipment and dispatch that I would dwell 
upon, but the mettle and quality of the officers and men we sent 
over and of the sailors who kept the seas, and the spirit of the Nation 
that stood behind them. No soldiers, or sailors, ever proved them- 
selves more quickly ready for the test of battle or acquitted them- 
selves with more splendid courage and achievement when put to 
the test. Those of us who played some part in directing the great 
processes by which the war was pushed irresistibly forward to 
the final triumph may now forget all that and deUght our thoughts 
with the story of what our men did. Their officers understood the 
grim and exacting task they had undertaken and performed with 
audacity, efficiency and unhesitating courage that touch the story 
of convoy and battle with imperishable distinction at every turn, 
whether the enterprise were great or small — from their chiefs, 
Pershing and Sims, down to the youngest Heutenant; and their 
men were worthy of them—such men as hardly need to be com- 
manded, and go to their terrible adventure blithely and with the 
quick intelhgence of those who know just what it is they would 
accomplish. I am proud to be the fellow-countryman of men of 
such stuff and valor. Those of us who stayed at home did our 
duty; the war could not have been won or the gallant men who 
fought it given their opportunity to win it otherwise; but for 
many^a long day we shall think ourselves 'accursed we were not 



n% HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR 

* '~ '"^^ : __-,^ ^"^^' ~ - ' 

there,"' and hold our manhoods cheap while any speaks that fought' 
with these at St. Mihiel or Thierry. The memory of those days of 
triumphant battle will go with these fortunate men to their graves; 
and each will have his favorite memory. 'Old men forget; yet 
all shall be forgot, but he'll remember with advantages what feats 
he did that day!' 

"What we all thank God for with deepest gratitude is that our 
men went in force into the line of battle just at the critical moment, 
and threw their fresh strength into the ranks of freedom in time to 
turn the whole tide and sweep of the fateful struggle — turn it 
once for all, so that henceforth it was back, back, back for their 
enemies, always back, never again forward! After that it was 
only a scant four months before the commanders of the central 
empires knew themselves beaten, and now their very empires are 
in liquidation! 

"And throughout it all how fine the spirit of the Nation was; 
what unity of purpose, what untiring zeal! What elevation of 
purpose ran through all its splendid display of strength, its untiring 
accomplishment. I have said that those of us who stayed at home 
to do the work of organization and supply will always wish that 
we had been with the men whom we sustained by our labor; but 
we can never be a'shamed. It has been an inspiring thing to be here 
in the midst of fine men who had turned aside from every private 
interest of their own and devoted the whole of their trained capacity 
to the tasks that suppHed the sinews of the whole great under- 
taking! The patriotism, the unselfishness, the thoroughgoing 
devotion and distinguished capacity that marked their toilsome 
labors, day after day, month after month, have made them fit 
mates' and comrades ■'of the men in the trenches and on the sea. 
And not the men here in Washington only. They have but directed 
the vast achievement. Throughout innumerable factories, upon 
innumerable farms, in the depths of coal mines and iron mines 
and copper mines; wherever the stuffs of industry were to be 
obtained and prepared, in the shipyards, on the railways, at the 
docks, on the sea, in every labor that was needed to sustain the 
battle lines men have vied with each other to do their part and 
do it well. They can look any man-at-arms in the face, and say, 
we also strove to win and gave the best that was in us to make our 
fleets and armies sure of their triumph! 



PRESIDENT'S REVIEW OF THE WAR 723 

"And what shall we say of the women — of their instant intelli- 
gence, quickening every task that they touched; their capacity for 
organization and co-operation, which gave their action discipline 
and enhanced the effectiveness of everything they attempted; 
their aptitude at tasks to which they had never before set their 
hands; their utter self-sacrificing alike in what they did and in 
what they gave? Their contribution to the great result is beyond 
appraisal. They have added a new luster to the annals of American 
womanhood. 

"The least tribute we can pay them is to make them the equals 
of men in political rights as they have proved themselves their 
equals in every field of practical work they have entered, whether 
for themselves or for their country. These great days of completed 
achievement would be sadly marred were we to omit that act of 
justice. Besides the immense practical services they have ren- 
dered, the women of the country have been the moving spirits in the 
systematic economies by which our people have voluntarily assisted 
to supply the suffering peoples of the world and the armies upon 
every front with food and everything else that we had that might 
serve the common cause. The details of such a story can never be 
fully written, but we carry them at our hearts and thank God that 
we can say we are the kinsmen of such. 

"And now we are sure of the great triumph for which every 
sacrifice was made. It has come, come in its completeness, and 
with the pride and inspiration of these days of achievement quick 
within us we turn to the tasks of peace again — a peace secure against 
the violence of irresponsible monarchs and ambitious mihtary 
coteries and made ready for a new order, for new foundations of 
justice and fair deahng. 

"We are about to give order and organization to this peace, not 
only for ourselves, but for the other peoples of the world as well, 
so far as they will suffer us to serve them. It is international justice 
that we seek, not domestic safety merely. . . . 

"So far as our domestic affairs are concerned the problem of our 
return to peace is a problem of economic and industrial readjust- 
ment. That problem is less serious for us than it may turn out to 
be for the nations which have suffered the disarrangements and 
the losses of war longer than we. Our people, moreover, do not 
wait to be coached and led. They know their own business, are 



7M HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR 

quick and resourceful at every readjustment, definite in purpose 
and self-reliant in action. Any leading strings we might seek to 
put them in would speedily become hopelessly tangled because they 
would pay no attention to them and go their own way. All that 
we can do as their legislative and executive servants is to mediate 
the process of change here, there and elsewhere as we may. I have 
heard much counsel as to the plans that should be formed and 
personally conducted to a happy consummation, but from no 
quarter have I seen any general scheme of reconstruction emerge 
which I thought it Hkely we could force our spirited businessmen 
and self-reliant laborers to accept with due pHancy and obedience. 

"While the war lasted we set up many agencies by which to 
direct the industries of the country in the services it was necessary 
for them to render, by which to make sure of an abunda,nt supply of 
the materials needed, by which to check undertakings that could for 
the time be dispensed with and stimulate those that were most 
serviceable in war, by which to gain for the purchasing departments 
of the government a certain control over the prices of essential 
articles and materials, by which to restrain trade with alien enemies, 
make the most of the available shipping and systematize financial 
transactions, both pubUc and private, so that there would be no 
unnecessary conflict or confusion — by which, in short, to put 
every material energy of the country in harness to draw the 
common load and make of us one team in accomphshment of a 
great task. 

"But the moment we knew the armistice to have been signed we 
took the harness off. Raw materials upon which the government 
had kept its hand for fear there should not be enough for the 
industries that supphed the armies have been released, and put into 
the general market again Great industrial plants whose whole 
output and machinery had been taken over for the uses of the 
government have been set free to return to the uses to which they 
were put before the war It has not been possible to remove so 
readily or so quickly the control of foodstuffs and of shipping, 
because the world has still to be fed from our granaries and the 
ships are still needed to send supplies to our men oversea and to 
bring the men back as fast as the distm^bed conditions on the other 
side of the water permit; but even there restraints are being 
relaxed as much as possible, and more and more as the weeks go by. 



PRESIDENT'S REVIEW OF THE WAR 725 

"Never before have there been agencies in existence in this 
country which knew so much of the field of supply of labor, and of 
industry as the War Industries Board, the War Trade Board, the 
Labor Department, the Food Administration and the Fuel Adminis- 
tration have known since their labors became thoroughly systema- 
tized; and they have not been isolated agencies; they have been 
directed by men which represented the permanent departments of 
the government and so have been the centers of unified and 
co-operative action It has been the policy of the Executive, 
therefore, since the armistice was assured (which is in effect a 
complete submission of the enemy) to put the knowledge of these 
bodies at the disposal of the businessmen of the country and to 
offer their intelligent mediation at every point and in every matter 
where it was desired. It is surprising how fast the process of 
return to a peace footing has moved in the three weeks since the 
fighting stopped. It promises to outrun any inquiry that may 
be instituted and any aid that may be offered. It will not be easy 
to direct it any better than it will direct itself. The American busi- 
ness man is of quick initiative. . . . 

"I welcome this occasion to announce to the Congress my 
purpose to join in Paris the representatives of the governments 
with which we have been associated in the war against the Central 
Empires for the purpose of discussing with them the main features 
of the treaty of peace. I reaHze the great inconveniences that will 
attend my leaving the country, particularly at this time, but the 
conclusion that it was my paramount duty to go has been forced 
upon me by considerations which I hope will seem as conclusive to 
you as they have seemed to me. 

"The AlHed governments have accepted the bases of peace 
which I outlined to the Congress on the 8th of January last, as the 
Central Empires also have, and very reasonably desire my personal 
counsel in their interpretation and application, and it is highly 
desirable that I should give it, in order that the sincere desire of our 
government to contribute without selfish purpose of any kind to 
settlements that will be of common benefit to all the nations con- 
cerned may be made fully manifest. The peace settlements which 
are now to be agreed upon are of transcendent importance both to 
us and to the rest of the world, and I know of no business or interest 
which should take precedence of them. The gallant men of our 



ne HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR 

armed forces on land and sea have consciously fought for the ideals 
which they knew to be the ideals of their country; I have sought to 
express those ideals; they have accepted my statements of them as 
the substance of their own thought and purpose, as the associated 
governments have accepted them; I owe it to them to see to it, 
so far as in me lies, that no false or mistaken interpretation is put 
upon them, and no possible effort omitted to realize them. It is 
now my duty to play my fuU part in making good what they offered 
their life's blood to obtain. I can think of no call to service which 
could transcend this. . . . 

"May I not hope, gentlemen of the Congress, that in the delicate 
tasks I shall have to perform on the other side of the sea in my 
efforts truly and faithfully to interpret the principles and purposes 
of the country we love, I may have the encouragement and the 
added strength of your united support? I realize the magnitude 
and difficulty of the duty I am undertaking. I am poignantly 
aware of its grave responsibilities. I am the servant of the Nation. 
I can have no private thought or purpose of my own in performing 
such an errand. I go to give the best that is in me to the common 
settlements which I must now assist in arriving at in conference 
with the other working heads of the associated governments. I shall 
count upon yoiu* friendly countenance and encouragement. I 
shall not be inaccessible. The cables and the wireless will render 
me available for any counsel or service you may desire of me, and 
I shall be happy in the thought that I am constantly in touch with 
the weighty matters of domestic policy with which we shall have to 
deal. I shall make my absence as brief as possible and shall hope 
to return with the happy assurance that it has been possible to 
translate into action the great ideals for which America has striven." 




Harris & Etcing. 

WOODROW WILSON 
. President of the United States during the whole course of the war and Commander- 
m-Chief of its army and navy. On November 11, 1918, he signahzed the end of the 
war m a proclamation in which he said:— "My Fellow-Countrymen: — The armistitje 
was signed this morning. Everything for which America fought has been accumplir^hed/' 



Summarized Chronology of the War 



1914 



June 



28.-^British fleet sinks three German 

28.— Assassination of Archduke Fran- cruisers and two destroyers off Heligo- 
3 Ferdinand, heir to throne of Austria- ^^°,<|- . 

^o. — ^Austria declares war on Belgium. 
29. — ^Russians invest Konigsberg, East 
Prussia. New Zealanders seize German 
Samoa. 

30. — ^Amiens occupied by Germans. 
31. — ^Russian army of invasion in East 
Prussia defeated at Tannenberg by Ger- 
mans under Von Hindenburg. 

31. — St. Petersburg changed to Petro- 
grad by imperial decree. 



CIS £ erdmand, heir to throne of Austria 
Hungary, and his wife at Sarajevo, 
Bosnia. 

July 

28. — Austria-Hungary declares war on 
Serbia. 
29. — ^Russian mobilization ordered. 

August 

!• — ^Germany declares war on Russia. 

1- — France orders mobilization. 
^, 2. — Germany demands free passage 
through Belgium. 

§• — ^Germany declares war on France. 

5- — ^Belgium rejects Germany's demand. 

4.— Germany at war with Belgium, 
iroops under Gen. Von Kluck cross bor- 
der. Halted at Liege. 

4.— Great Britain at war with Ger- army retreai 
many. Kitchener becomes Secretary of Rheims iSe. 

5.-President^ Wilson tenders good of- oufr^f?n Bay S™eneaf '"''''' 
"-r^^^S^^^^S^ «r?n?h-?L?c^u^pf • Amiens 



September 

3. — Paris placed in state of siege ; gov- 
ernment transferred to Bordeaux. 

3. — ^Lemberg, Gallieia, occupied by Rus- 
sians. 

4. — Germans occupy Rheims. 

6-10. — Battle of Marne. Von Kluck is 
beaten by Gen. Joffre, and the German 
army^retreats from Paris to the Soissons- 

carries 

and 



sia 

T I-~^'^^^<^^ forces invade Alsace. Gen. 

Joltre in supreme command of French 

army. 

n' — Jifontenegro at war with Austria. 
-., ' • — Great Britain's Expeditionary 
lorce lands at Ostend, Calais and Dun- 
kirk. 

§• — 5"^^^^ ^^^^® German Togoland. 

8. — Serbia at war with Germany. 

8-— -Portugal announces readiness to 
stand by alliance with England. 
„11- — German cruisers Goehen and 
Breslau enter Dardanelles and are pur- 
chased by Turkey. 

_,12. — Great Britain at war with Austria- 
Hungary 



12. — Montenegro at war with Germany. „ ^- — Antwerp surrenders to 
, 17- — Belgian capital removed from Government removed to Ostend 



_ 17. — Belgian ~ capital 
Brussels to Antwerp. 

19- — Canadian Parliament authorizes 
raising expeditionary force. 

20. — Germans occupy Brussels. 
_ 23. — Japan at war with Germany. Be- 
gins attack on Tsingtau. 

24.— Germans enter France near Lille. 

^5- — ^Austria at war with Japan. 

26.— Louvain sacked and burned by 
Germans. Viviani becomes premier 
France. 



19. — British forces begin operations in 
Southwest Africa. 

20. — Rheims cathedral shelled by Ger- 
mans. 

24. — Alli es occupy Peronne. 

25. — ^Australians seize German New 
Guinea. 

28. — Anglo-French forces invade Ger- 
man colony of Kamerun. 

29. — ^Antwerp bombardment begins. 

October 

. 2. — British Admiralty announces inten- 
tion to mine North Sea areas. 
^ 6. — Japan seizes Marshall Islands in 
Pacific. 

9- — Antwerp surrenders to Germans. 



13. — British occupy Ypres. 
„ 14. — Canadian Expeditionary Force of 
32,000 men lands at Plymouth. 

15. — Germans occupy Ostend. Belgian 
government removed to Havre, France. 



November 

1. — Monmouth and Good Sope, British 

•i ^L^l^f^?' ^^^ ^""k ^y German squadron 

of off Chile under command of Admiral Von 

Spee. 

729 



730 



HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR 



5. — Great Britain and France declare 
war on Turkey. 

5. — Cyprus annexed by Great Britain. 

7. — German garrison of Tsingtau sur- 
renders to Japanese. 

9. — Emden, German cruiser, which had 
carried out raiding operations for two 
months, is destroyed by Australian cruiser 
Sydney ofiE the Cocos Islands, southwest 
of Java. 

16. — Prohibition of sale of intoxicants 
in Russia enforced. 

27. — Czemowitz, capital of Bukowina, 
captured by Russians. 



December 

2. — ^Belgrade occupied by Austrians. 

3. — Cracow bombarded by Russians. 

8.— OfE the Falkland Isles, British 
squadron under command of Rear- Admiral 
Sturdee, sinks three of the German cruis- 
ers which had destroyed the Good Hope 
and Monmouth on Nov. 1. The Dresden 
escapes. 

14. — ^Austrians evacuate Belgrade. 

16. — German squadron bombards Har- 
tlepool, Scarborough and Whitby on east 
coast of England. 

23. — Siege of Cracow raised. Russians 
retire. 



1915 



January 

24. — ^British fleet puts to flight a Ger- 
man squadron in North Sea and sinks the 
battle cruiser Bliicher. 

28. — American bark, William P. Frye, 
sunk by German cruiser in South Atlan- 
tic. 

February 

10. — ^Russians defeated by Germans in 
Battle of Masurian Lakes. 

18. — German submarine "blockade" of 
British Isles begins. 

25. — Allied fleet destroys outer forts of 
Dardanelles. 

March 

2. — Allied troops land at Kum-Kale, on 
Asiatic side of Dardanelles. 

10. — British take Neuve Chapelle in 
Flanders battle. 

14. — Dresden, German raiding cruiser, 
is sunk by British squadron off the 
Chilean coast. 

22.— Austrian fortress of Przmysl sur- 
renders to Russians. 

April 

22. — Poison gas first used by Germans 
in attack on Canadians at Ypres, Belgium. 

May 

1. — American steamer OulfligM torpe- 
doed off Scilly Isles by German subma- 
rine ; 3 lives lost. 

2. — British South Africa troops under 
General Botha capture Otymbingue, Ger- 
man Southwest Africa. 

7. — Germans capture Libau, Russian 
Baltic port. 

7. — Lusitania, Cunard liner, sunk by 
German submarine off Kinsale Head, 
Irish coast, with loss of 1152 lives; 102 
Americans. 

23. — Italy declares war ^ on Austria- 
Hungary and begins invasion on a 60- 
mile front. 

24. — American steamer NeirasJcan tor- 
pedoed by German submarine off Irish 
coast, but reaches Liverpool in safety. 

31. — German Zeppelins bombard sub- 
urbs of London. 



June 

1. — Germany apologizes for attack on 
Gulflight and offers reparation. 

3. — Austrians recapture Przmysl. 

3. — British forces operating on Tigris 
capture Kut-el-Amara. 

4-6. — German aircraft bombs English 
towns. 

7. — Bryan, U. S. Secretary of State, 
resigns. 

15. — ^Allied aircraft bombs Karlsruhe, 
Baden, in retaliation. 

22. — Lemberg recaptured by Austrians. 

26. — Montenegrins enter Scutari, Al- 
bania. 

July 

9. — German Southwest Africa surren- 
ders to British South African troops un- 
der Gen. Botha. 

25. — American steamer, Leelanato, 
Archangel to Belfast with flax, torpedoed 
off Scotland. 

31. — Baden bombarded by French air- 
craft. 

August 

5. — ^Warsaw captured by Germans. 

6. — ^Ivangorod occupied by Austrians. 

6. — GaUipoli Peninsula campaign enters 
a second stage with the debarkation of a 
new force of British troops in Suvla Bay, 
on the west of the peninsula. 

8. — ^Russians defeat German fleet of 
9 battleships and 12 cruisers at entrance 
of Gulf of Riga. 

19. — Arabic, White Star liner, sunk by 
submarine off Fastnet; 44 lives lost; 2 
Americans. 

25. — Brest-Litovsk, Russian fortress, 
captured by Austro-Germans. 

28. — ^Italians reach Cima Cista, north- 
G3.st of Tront. 

30. — ^British submarine attacks Con- 
stantinople and damages the Galata 
Bridge. , 

31. — ^Lutsk, Russian fortress, captured 
by Austrians. 

September 

2. — Grodno, Russian fortress, occupied 
by Germans. 



SUMMARIZED CHRONOLOGY 



731 



6. — Czar Nicholas of Russia assumes 
command of Russian armie;?. Grand Duke 
Nicholas is transferred to the Caucasus. 

lo. — Pinsk occupied by Germans. 

18. — Vilna evacuated by Russia. 

24. — Lutsk recaptured by Russians. 

25. — Allies open offensive on western 
front and occupy Lens. 

27. — Lutsk again falls to Germans. 

October 

5.— -Greece becomes political storm cen- 
ter. Franco-British force lands at Salon- 
ika and Greek ministry resigns. 

9. — Belgrade again occupied by Austro- 
Germans. 

11- — Zaimis, new Greek premier, an- 
nounces policy of armed neutrality. 

12. — Edith Cavell, English nurse, shot 
by Germans for aiding British prisoners 
to escape from Belgium. 
__13. — London bombarded by Zeppelins; 
55 persons killed ; 114 injured. 

14. — Bulgaria at war with Serbia. 

14. — Italians capture Pregasina, on the 
Trentino frontier. 

15. — Great Britain declares war on 
Bulgaria. 

17. — France at war with Bulgaria. 

18. — Bulgarians cut the Nish-Salonika 
railroad at Vranja. 

19. — Italy and Russia at war with 
Bulgaria. 

22. — Uskub occupied by Bulgarians. 

28. — Pirot captured by Bulgarians. 

29. — Briand becomes premier of France, 
succeeding Viviani, 



November 

5v--Nish, Serbian war capital, captured 
by Bulgarians. 

9. — Ancona, Italian liner, torpedoed in 
Mediterranean. 

17. — Anglo-French war council holds 
first meeting in Paris. 

20. — Novibazar occupied by German 
troops. 

22. — Otesiphon, near Bagdad, captured 
by British forces in Asia Minor. 
. 23. — Italians drive Austrians from posi- 
tions on Carso Plateau. 

24. — Serbian government transferred to 
Scutari, Albania. 

December 

1- — British Mesopotamian forces retire 
to Kut-el-Amai>a. 

2. — Monastir evacuated by Serbians, 

4. — Henry Ford, with large party of 
peace advocates, sails for Europe on char- 
tered steamer Oscar II, with the object of 
ending the war. 

13. — Serbia in hands of enemy, Allied 
forces abandoning last positions and re- 
tiring across Greek frontier. 

15. — Gen. Sir Douglas Haig succeeds 
Field Marshal Sir John French as Com- 
mander-in-Chief of British forces in 
France. 

_ 20. — Dardanelles expedition ends ; Brit- 
ish troops begin withdrawal from posi- 
tions on Suvla Bay and Gallipoli Penin- 
sula. 

22. — Henry Ford leaves his peace party 
at Christiania and returns to the United 
States. 



1916 



January 

^ 11. — Greek island of Corfu occupied by 
French. 

13. — Cettinje, capital of Montenegro, 
occupied by Austrians. 

23. — Scutari, Albania, taken by Aus- 
trians. 

29-31. — German Zeppelins bomb Paris 
and towns in England. 

February 

. 1. — Appam, British liner, is brought 
into Norfolk, Va., by German prize crew. 

10- — British conscription law goes into 
effect. 

16. — Erzerum, in Turkish Armenia, 
captured by Russians under Grand Duke 
Nicholas. 

19. — Kamerun, German colony in 
Africa, conquered by British forces. 

21. — Battle of Verdun begins. Germans 
take Haumont. 

25. — Fort Douaumont falls to Germans 
in Verdun battle. 

27. — Durazzo, Albania, occupied by 
Austrians. 



March 



5. — Moeive, German raider, reaches 
home port after a cruise of several months. 

9. — Germany declares war on Portugal 
on the latter's refusal to give up seized 
ships. 

15. — Austria-Hungary at war with 
Portugal. 

24.— Sussex, French cross-channel steam- 
er, with many Americans aboard, sunk by 
submarine off Dieppe. No Americana 
lost. 

31. — Melancourt taken by Germans in 
Verdun Battle. 

April 

18.— Trebizond, Turkish Black Sea 
port, captured by Russians. 

19. — President Wilson pubKcly warns 
Germany not to pursue submarine policy. 

20. — Russian troops landed at Mar- 
seilles for service on French front. 

24. — Irish rebellion begins in Dublin. 
Republic declared. Patrick Pearse an- 
nounced as first president. 

29.— British force of 9000 men, under 



7m 



HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR 



Gen. Townshend, besieged in Kut-el- 
Amara, surrenders to Turks. 

30. — Irish rebellion ends with uncondi- 
tional surrender of Pearse and other lead- 
ers, who are tried by court-martial and 
executed. 

May 

8. — Cymric, White Star liner, torpe- 
doed off Irish coast. 

14. — Italian positions penetrated by 
Austrians. 

15. — Vimy Ridge gained by British. 

26. — Bulgarians invade Greece and oc- 
cupy forts on the Struma. 

31. — Jutland naval battle; British and 
German fleets engaged ; heavy losses on 
both sides. 

June 

5. — Kitchener, British Secretary of 
AVar, loses his life when the cruiser 
Hampshire, on which he was voyaging to 
Russia, is sunk off the Orkney Islands, 
Scotland. 

6. — Germans capture Fort Vaux in 
Verdun attack. 

8. — Lutsk, Russian fortress, recaptured 
from Germans. 

17. — Czernowitz, capital of Bukowina, 
occupied by Russians. 

21. — Allies demand Greek demobiliza- 
tion. 

27. — King Constantino orders demobili- 
zation of Greek army. 

28. — Italians storm Monte Trappola, in 
the Trentino district. 

July 

1. — ^British and French attack north 
and south of the Somme. 

9. — Deutschland, German submarine 
freight boat, lands at Baltimore, Md. 

14. — British penetrate German second 
line, using cavalry. 

15. — Longueval captured by British. 

25. — Pozieres occupied by British. 

30. — British and French advance be- 
tween Delville Wood and the Somme. 

August 

3. — French recapture Fleury. 

9. — Italians enter Goritzia. 

10. — Stanislau occupied by Russians. 

25. — Kavala, Greek seaport town, taken 
by Bulgarians. 

27. — Roumania declares war on Austria- 
Hungary. 

28. — Italy at war with Germany. 

28. — Germany at war with Roumania. 



30. — ^Roumanians advance into Tran- 
sylvania. 

31. — Bulgaria at war with Roumania. 
Turkey at war with Roumania. 

September 

2. — Bulgarian forces invade Roumania 
along the Dobrudja frontier. 

13. — Italians defeat Austz-ians on the 
Carso, 

15. — British capture Flers, Courcelette, 
and other German positions on western 
front, using ' tanks.' 

26. — Combles and Thiepval captured by 
British and French. 

29. — Roumanians begin retreat from 
Transylvania. 

October 

24. — ^Fort Douaumont recaptured by 
French. 

November 

1. — Deutschland, German merchant sub- 
marine, arrives at New London, Conn., on 
second voyage. 

2. — Fort Vaux evacuated by Germans. 

7. — ^Woodrow Wilson re-elected Presi- 
dent of the United States. 

13. — British advance along the Ancre. 

19. — Monastir evacuated by Bulgarians 
and Germans. 

21. — Britannic, mammoth British hos- 
pital ship, sunk by mine in Aegean Sea. 

22. — Emperor Franz Josef of Austria- 
Hungary, dies. Succeeded by Charles I. 

23. — German warships bombard Eng- 
lish coast. 

28. — Roumanian government is trans- 
ferred to Jassy. 

29. — Minnetvasha, Atlantic transport 
liner, sunk by mine in Mediterranean. 

December 

1. — Allied troops enter Athens to insist 
upon surrender of Greek arms and muni- 
tions. 

6. — Bucharest, capital of Roumania, 
captured by Austro-Germans. 

7. — ^David Lloyd George succeeds As- 
quith as premier of England. 

15. — French complete recapture of 
ground taken by Germans in Verdun 
battle. 

18. — President Wilson makes peace 
overtures to belligerents. 

26. — Germany replies to President's 
note and suggests a peace conference. 

30. — French government on behalf of 
Entente Allies replies to President Wil- 
son's note and refuses to discuss peace 
till Germany agrees to give ' restitution, 
reparation and guarantees.' 



1917 

January 22. — President AVilson suggests to the 

1.— Turkev declares its independence of belligerents a ' peace without victory.' 

suzerainty of European powers. 31. — Germany announces intention of 

1. — Ivernia, Cunard liner, is sunk in sinking all vessels in war zone around 

Mediterranean. British Isles. 



SUMMARIZED CHRONOLOGY 



733 



February 

3. — United States severs diplomatic re- 
lations with Germany. Count Von Bern- 
storff is handed his passports. 

7. — California, Anchor liner, is sunk off 
Irish coast. 

13. — Afrio, White Star liner, sunk by 
submarine. 

17. — British troops on the Ancre cap- 
ture German positions. 

25. — Laconia, Cunard liner, sunk off 
Irish coast. 

26. — Kut-el-Amara recaptured from 
Turks by new British Mesopotamian ex- 
pedition under command of Gen. Sir Stan- 
ley Maude. 

28. — United States government makes 
public a communication from Germany to 
Mexico proposing an alliance, and offering 
as a reward the return of Mexico's lost 
territory in Texas, New Mexico and Ari- 
zona. 

28. — Submarine campaign of Germans 
results in the sinking of 134 vessels during 
February. 

March 

S. — British advance on Bapaume. 

3. — Mexico denies having received an 
offer from Germany suggesting an alli- 
ance. 

8. — Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin dies, 

10. — Russian Czar suspends sittings of 
the Duma. 

11. — Bagdad captured by British forces 
under Gen. Maude. 

11. — Revolutionary movement starts in 
Petrograd. 

14. — China breaks with Germany. 

15. — Czar Nicholas abdicates. Prince 
Lvoff heads new cabinet. 

17. — Bapaume falls to British. Roye 
and Lassigny occupied by French. 

18. — Peronne, Chaulnes, Nesle and 
Noyon evacuated by Germans, who retire 
on an 85-mile front. 

18. — City of Memphis, Illinois, and 
Vigila7icia, Amei-ican ships, torpedoed. 

19. — Alexander Ribot becomes French 
premier, succeeding Briand. 

21. — Healdton, American ship, bound 
from Philadelphia to Rotterdam, sunk 
without warning ; 21 men lost. 

26-31. — British advance on Cambrai. 

April 

1. — Aztec, American armed ship, sunk 
in submarine zone. 

5. — Missourian, American steamer, sunk 
in Mediterranean. 

6. — United States declares war on 
Germany. 

7. — Cuba and Panama at war with 
Germany. 

8. — Austria-Hungary breaks with Unit- 
ed States. 

9. — Germans retreat before British on 
long front. 

9. — Bolivia breaks with Germany. 

13. — Vimy, Givenchy, Bailleul and posi- 
tions about Lens taken by Canadians. 

20. — Turkey breaks with United States. 



May 

9. — Liberia breaks with Germany. 

11. — Russian Council of Workmen's 
and Soldiers' Delegates demands peace 
conference. 

15. — Gen. Petain succeeds Gen. Nivelle 
as Commander-in-Chief of French armies. 
Gen. Foch is appointed Chief of Staff. 

16. — Bullecourt captured by British in 
the Arras battles. 

17. — Honduras breaks with Germany, 

18. — Conscription bill signed by Presi- 
dent Wilson. 

19. — Nicaragua breaks with Germany. 

22-26. — Italians advance on the Oarso. 

June 

4. — Senator Root arrives in Russia at 
head of commission appointed by Presi- 
dent. 

5. — Registration day for new draft 
army in United States. 

7. — Messines-Wytschaete ridge in Eng- 
lish hands. 

8. — Gen. Pershing, Commander-in-Chief 
of American expeditionary force, arrives 
in England en route to France. 

18. — Haiti breaks with Germany, 

July 

1. — Russians begin offensive in Gallicia, 
Kerensky, minister of war, leading in 
person. 

^ 3. — American expeditionary force ar- 
rives in France. 

6. — Canadian House of Commons passes 
Compulsory Military Service Bill. 

12. — King Constantine of Greece abdi- 
cates in favor of his second son, Alex- 
ander. 

14. — ^Bethmann-HoUweg, German Chan- 
cellor, resigns ; succeeded by Dv. Georg 
Michaelis. 

16-23. — Retreat of Russians on a front 
of 155 miles. 

20. — Alexander Kerensky becomes Rus- 
sian premier, succeeding Lvoff. 

20. — ^Drawing of draft numbers for 
American conscript army begins. 

22. — Siam at war with Germany and 
Austria. 

24. — Austro-Germans retake Stanislau. 

31. — Franco-British attack penetrates 
German lines on a 20-mile front. 

August 

1. — Pope Benedict XV makes plea for 
peace on a basis of no annexation, no 
indemnity. 

3. — Ozernowitz captured by Austro- 
Germans. 

7. — Liberia at war with Germany. 

8. — Canadian Conscription Bill passes 
its third reading in Senate. 

14. — China at war with Germany and 
Austria-Hungary. 

15. — St. Quentin Cathedral destroyed 
by Germans. 

15. — Canadian troops capture HiU 70, 
dominating Lens. 



734 



HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR 



19. — ^Italians cross the Isonzo and take 
Austrian positions. 

28. — Pope Benedict's peace plea rejected 
by President Wilson. 



September 

3. — ^Riga captured by Germans. 

5. — New American National Army be- 
gins to assemble in the different canton- 
ments. 

7. — MinnehaJia, Atlantic Transport lin- 
er, sunk off Irish coast. 

12. — ^Argentine dismisses Von Luxburg, 
German minister, on charges of improper 
conduct made public by United States 
government. 

14. — Paul Painleve becomes French 
premier, succeeding Ribot. 

16. — ^Russia proclaimed a republic by 
Kerensky. 

20. — Costa Rica breaks with Germany. 

21. — Gen. Tasker H. Bliss named Chief 
of Staff of the United States Army. 

25. — Guynemer, famous French flier, 
killed. 

26. — Zonnebeke, Polygon Wood and 
Tower Hamlets, east of Ypres, taken by 
British. 

28. — ^William D. Haywood, secretary, 
and 100 members of the Industrial Work- 
ers of the World arrested for sedition. 

29. — Turkish Mesopotamian army, un- 
der Ahmed Bey, captured by British. 

October 

6. — Peru and Uruguay break with Ger- 
many. 

9. — Poelcapelle and other German posi- 
tions captured in Franco-British attack. 

12-16. — Oesel and Dago, Russian islands 
in Gulf of Riga, captured by Germans. 

17. — Antilles, American transport, west- 
bound from France, sunk by submarine; 
67 lost. 

18. — Moon Island, in the Gulf of Riga, 
taken by Germans. 

23. — ^American troops in France fire 
their first shot in trench warfare. 

23. — French advance northeast of Sois- 
sons. 

24. — ^Austro-Germans begin great of- 
fensive on Italian positions. 

25. — Italians retreat across the Isonzo 
and evacuate the Bainsizza Plateau. 

26. — Brazil at war with Germany. 

27. — Goritzia recaptured by Austro- 
Germans. 

30. — Michaelis, German Chancellor, re- 
signs; succeeded by Count George F. 
von Hertling. 

31. — Italians retreat to the Taglia- 
mento. 

31. — Beersheba, in Palestine, occupied 
by British, 



November 

1. — Germans abandon position on 
Chemin des Dames. 

3. — Americans in trenches suffer 20 
casualties in German attacks. 

5. — Italians abandon Tagliamento line 
and retire on a 93-mile front in the Carnic 
Alps. 

6. — Passchendaele captured by Cana- 
dians. 

6. — ^British Mesopotamian forces reach 
Tekrit, 100 miles northwest of Bagdad. 

7. — ^The Russian Bolsheviki, led by Le- 
nine and Trotzsky, seize Petrograd and 
depose Kerensky. 

8. — Gen. Diaz succeeds Gen. Cadorna 
as Commander-in-Chief of Italian armies. 

9. — Italians retreat to the Piave. 

10. — Lenine becomes Premier of Rus- 
sia, succeeding Kerensky. 

15. — Georges Clemenceau becomes Pre- 
mier of France, succeeding Painleve. 

18. — Major General Maude, captor of 
Bagdad, dies in Mesopotamia. 

21. — ^Ribecourt, Flesquieres, Havrin- 
court, Marcoing and other German posi- 
tions captured by British. 

23. — Italians repulse Germans on the 
whole front from the Asiago Plateau to 
the Brenta River. 

24. — Cambrai menaced by British, who 
approach within three miles, capturing 
Bourlon Wood. 

December 

1. — German East Africa reported com- 
pletely conquered. 

1. — Allies' Supreme War Council, rep- 
resenting the United States, France, 
Great Britain and Italy, holds first meet- 
ing at VersaUles. 

3. — ^Russian Bolsheviki arrange armi- 
stice with Germans. 

5. — ^British retire from Bourlon Wood, 
Graincourt and other positions west of 
Cambrai. 

6. — Jacob Jones, American destroyer, 
sunk by submarine in European waters. 

6. — Steamer Mo7it Blanc, loaded with 
munitions, explodes in collision with the 
Imo in Halifax harbor ; 1500 persons are 
killed. 

7. — ^Finland declares independence. 

8. — Jerusalem, held by the Turks for 
673 years, surrenders to British, under 
Gen. AUenby. 

8. — ^Ecuador breaks with Germany. 

10. — Panama at war with Austria- 
Hungary. 

11. — United States at war with Austria- 
Hungary. 

15. — Armistice signed between Germany 
and Russia at Brest-Litovsk. 

17. — Coalition government of Sir Rob- 
ert Borden is returned and conscription 
confirmed in Canada. 



SUMMARIZED CHRONOLOGY 



735 



1918 



January 

14. — Premier Clemenceau orders arrest 
ot toimer Premier CaiUaux on high trea- 
son charge. 

19. — American troops take over sector 
northwest of Toul. 

29.— Italians capture Monte di val 
-tJelle. 

February 

1.— Argentine Minister of AVar recaUs 
military attaches from Berlin and Vienna. 

^'—/ 'itscania, American transport, tor- 
pedoed off coast of Ireland ; 101 lost. 

^2. — ^American troops in Chemin des 
Dames sector. 

26.— British hospital ship, Glenart Cas- 
tle, torpedoed. 

27. — Japan proposes joint military op- 
erations with Allies in Siberia. 

March 

1.— Americans gain signal victory in 
sahent north of Toul. v- j xu 

3.— Peace treaty between Bolshevik 
government of Russia and the Central 
i^owers signed at Brest-Litovsk. 

antpSlnd! ^"^""'^ ''''''''" ^"'""^"y 
5. — ^Rumania signs preliminary treaty 
of peace with Central Powers. 

j"T-^^?^^^° capital moved from Petro- 
grad to Moscow. 

« J1:~?i'?^-^^"^?''™^'^ peace treaty rati- 
Mos ^^"^"^sian Congress of Soviets at 

1 20.— President "Wilson orders all Hol- 
land ships in American ports taken over. 

4^-—^^^^^T^s begin great drive on 50- 
mile front from Arras to La Fere. Bom- 
bardment of Paris by German long-range 
gun from a distance of 76 miles. 

,^|-— Peronne, Ham and Chauny evacu- 
ated by Allies. 

25. — Bapaume and Nesle occupied by 

i^ ??i;~i^%"^^"?^A?^?'^^J^'^°««» Commander- 
m-Chief of all Allied forces. 



• ^-T".^"*^?!* Jiaval forces raid Zeebrugge 
m Belgium, German submarine base, and 
block channel. 

May 

7.---Nicaragua at war with Germany 
and her allies. 

19.-^Major Raoul Lufberry, famous 
American aviator, killed. 

24.— Costa Rica at war with Germany 
and Austria-Hungary. 
» •^^•"T?'^^'"*^ German drive begins on 
Aisne-Marne front of 30 miles between 
Soissons and Rheims. 
/^i?^*~^^''°^^® sweep on beyond the 
Ohemin des Dames and cross the Vesle at 
Fismes. 

28. — Cantigny taken by Americans in 
local attack. 

29-— Soissons evacuated by French. 

dl. — Marne River crossed by Germans, 
who reach Chateau Thierry, 40 miles 
from Pans. 

31. — President Lincoln, American trans- 
port, sunk. 



April 

5.— Japanese forces landed at Vladi- 
vostok. 

9.--Second German drive begun in 
Flanders. 

10.— First German drive halted before 
Amiens after maximum advance of 35 
miles. 

,;r--^^-~"V°\*^e<? States Senator Stone, of 
Missouri, chairman of Committee on For- 
eign Relations, dies. 

15,— Second German drive halted before 
ipres, after maximum advance of 10 
miles. 

16.— Bolo Pasha, Levantine resident in 
Pans, executed for treason. 

no ~S"^*^™^1* at war with Germany. 

22.— Baron Von Richthofen, premier 
German flier, killed. 



June 

2.— Schooner Edward H. Cole torpe- 
doed by submarine oflE American coast. 

d-b. — ^American marines and regulars 
check advance of Germans at Chateau 
Thierry and NeuiUy after maximum ad- 
vance of Germans of 32 miles. Beginning 
***« i"?^"^" co-operation on major scale, 
^•j- ^•r~^®'''";5lP <^"^« 0° Noyon-Mont- 

il oF^'^t* Miaximum advance, 5 miles. 

15-24.— Austrian drive on Italian front 
ends m complete failure, 

30.-— American troops in France, in all 
departments of service, number 1,019,115. 

July 

J- — yau^ taken by Americans, 
die ~ ^' ^"^*^^° **^ Turkey, 

i-otP'~^^^^^°"^>^^¥' ai<^«d ^y Allies, 
take control of a long stretch of the 
Trans-Siberian Railway. 

12. — Berat, Austrian base in Albania, 
captured by Italians. 

Jf • — Haiti at war with Germany. 

15.— Stonewall defense of Chateau 
Ihierry blocks new German drive on 
Pans. 

16._— Nicholas Romanoll, ex-Czar of 
■Itussia, executed at Yekaterinburg. 

■•■ ' --T-lJieut. Quentin Roosevelt, youngest 
son of ex-President Roosevelt, killed in 
aerial battle near Chateau Thierry. 
^ 18.— French and Americans begin coun- 
ter offensive on Marne-Aisne front. 

i~:^?^ I>ie,g(?, United States cruiser, 
sunk off Fire Island. 

20.— Carpathia, Cunard liner, used as 
transport, torpedoed ofe Irish coast It 
was the Carpathia that saved most of the 
survivors of the Titanic in April, 1912 

20.—Justicia, giant liner used as troon- 
ship, IS sunk off Irish coast. 



'7SQ 



HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR 



21. — German submarine sinks three 
barges off Cape Cod. 

23. — French take Oulchy-le-Chateau 
and drive the Germans back ten miles be- 
tween the Aisne and the Marne. 

SO. — ^Allies astride the Ourcq ; Ger- 
mans in full retreat to the Vesle. 



August 

1. — Sergeant Joyce Kilmer, American 
poet and critic, aged 31, dies in battle. 

2. — French troops recapture Soissons. 

3. — President Wilson announces new 
policy regarding Russia and agrees to co- 
operate with Great Britain, France and 
Japan in sending forces to Murmansk, 
Archangel and Vladivostok. 

3. — Allies sweep on between Soissons 
and Rheims, driving the enemy from his 
base at Fismes and capturing the entire 
Aisne- Vesle front. 

7. — Franco-American troops cross the 
Vesle. 

8. — New Allied drive begun by Field- 
Marshal Haig in Picardy, penetrating 
enemy front 14 miles. 

10. — Montdidier recaptured. 

13. — Lassigny massif taken by French. 

15. — Canadians capture Damery and 
ParviUers, northwest of Roye. 

29. — Noyon and Bapaume fall in new 
Allied advance. 



September 

I. — ^Australians take Peronne. 

1. — Americans fight for the first time on 
Belgian soil and capture Voormezeele. 

11. — Germans are driven back to the 
Hindenburg line which they held in No- 
vember, 1917. 

12. — ^Registration day for new draft 
army of men between 18 and 45 in the 
United States. 

13. — Americans begin vigorous offense 
in St. Mihiel Sector on 40-mile front. 

14. — St. Mihiel recaptured from Ger- 
mans. General Pershing announces en- 
tire St. Mihiel salient erased, liberating 
more than 150 square miles of French ter- 
ritory which had been in German hands 
since 1914. 

20. — Nazareth occuped by British forces 
in Palestine under Gen. Allenby. 

23. — Bulgarian armies flee before com- 
bined attacks of British, Greek, Serbian, 
Italian and French. 

25. — ^British take 40,000 prisoners in 
Palestine offensive. 

26. — Strumnitza, Bulgaria, occupied by 
Allies. 

27. — Franco-Americans in drive from 
Rheims to Verdun take 30,000 prisoners. 

23. — Belgians attack enemy from Ypres 
to North Sea, gaining four miles. 

29. — Bulgaria surrenders to General 
d'Esperey, the Allied commander. 

30. — British-Belgian advance reaches 
Roulers. 



October 

1. — St. Quentin, cornerstone of Hinden- 
burg line, captured. 

1. — ^Damascus occupied by British in 
Palestine campaign. 

2. — Lens evacuated by Germans. 

3. — Albania cleared of Austrians by 
Italians. 

4. — Ferdinand, king of Bulgaria, abdi- 
cates ; Boris succeeds. 

5. — Prince Maximilian, new German 
Chancellor, pleads with President Wilson 
to ask Allies for armistice. 

7. — Berry-au-Bac taken by French. 

8. — President Wilson asks whether 
German Chancellor speaks for people or 
war lords. 

9. — Cambrai in Allied hands. 

10. — Leinster, passenger steamer, sunk 
in Irish Channel by submarine ; 480 lives 
lost ; final German atrocity at sea. 

11. — ^Americans advance through Ar- 
gonne forest. 

12. — German foreign secretary, Solf, 
says plea for armistice is made in name 
of German people; agrees to evacuate all 
foreign soil. 

12. — Nish, in Serbia, occupied by Allies. 

13. — Laon and La Fere abandoned by 
Germans. 

13. — Grandpre captured by Americans 
after four days' battle. 

14. — President Wilson refers Germans 
to General I^och for armistice terms. 

16. — Lille entered by British patrols. 

17. — Ostend, German submarine base, 
taken by land and sea forces. 

17. — ^Douai falls to Allies. 

19. — -Bruges and Zeebrugge taken by 
Belgians and British. 

25. — Beginning of terrific Italian drive 
which nets 50,000 prisoners in five days. 

31. — Turkey surrenders ; armistice 
takes effect at noon ; conditions include 
free passage of Dardanelles. 



November 

1. — Clery-le-Grand captured by Ameri- 
can troops of First Army. 

3. — Americans sweep ahead on 50-mile 
front above Verdun ; enemy in full retreat. 

3. — Official reports announce capture of 
362,350 Germans since July 15. 

3. — ^Austri.:i surrenders, signing armi- 
stice with Italy at 3 P. M. after 500,000 
prisoners had been taken. 

4. — Americans advance beyond Stenay 
and strike at Sedan. 

7. — ^American Rainbow Division and 
parts of First Division enter suburbs of 
Sedan. 

8. — Heights south of Sedan seized by 
Americans. 

9. — Maubeuge captured by Allies. 

10. — Canadians take Mons in irresist- 
ible advance. 

11. — Germany surrenders ; armistice 
takes effect at 11 a. m. American flag 
hoisted on Sedan front. 



JUL -21934 



Deacidified using the Bookkeeper process. 
Neutralizing agent: l\/lagnesium Oxide 
Treatment Date: (vj/^y 2801 

PreservationTechnologies 

A WORLD LEADER IN PAPER PRESERVATIOH 

111 Thomson Park Drive 
Cranberry Township. PA 16066 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 




007 673 301 6 % 












